Adventure in a New World
by knaka148
Summary: A different player gets transported to the New World. What effect will this have on events there?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**

 **Hey, a new idea for a story popped into my head. I'm not abandoning my other stories, but I have an urge to write this. I'll be writing multiple stories at the same time now, so it will be an interesting experience for me.**

 **Just to let you know, this story is not set in the same universe as my other stories. While several principles and classes are kept, the characters and backstories are different. Also, just like my other stories, Ainz will not be transported to the new world here.**

 **This story may seem a bit generic based on this chapter, but I do have an idea to make it a little different. You probably won't see it for another chapter or two though.**

XXX

On a hill in the temperate virtual world of Midgard, far away from the plains filled with players in the distance, a black oval rippled into existence. A figure stepped through the portal and stepped onto the virtual hill. He was dressed in fancy, one might say gaudy, robes, with a circlet adorned with many exquisite gems on his head. His boots stepped onto the hill covered with grass, but he did not feel anything, for sense of touch did not exist in this game. Even if it did, all he would feel would be the soft leather of his ancient dragonhide boots.

There were several powerful creatures on this hill, but none reacted to the player who just arrived. For today, the last day of YDDGRASIL, no monsters could attack or be attacked.

This player's screen name was Kaching and he was here to watch the fireworks scheduled for the last day of YDDGRASIL.

XXX

Mitsuo Yagami was a young man with little interest in games. However, his younger sister, Harumi Yagami enjoyed playing games, and convinced Mitsuo to play YDDGRASIL. Both of them belonged to the guild 'Force Network'. Force Network was a guild that had been in the top 50 ranked guilds in YDDGRASIL for several years now, despite always having fewer than 60 active members. The guild started with a group of 6 founding players who decided not to invite strangers into their guild. Every member who joined had a real life connection with one of the other members, be it a family member, friend, coworker, or neighbor. As a result, the members of Force Network had an incentive never to betray each other in game. While one of them might have done so given the right circumstances, it just hadn't happened. However, another effect of this policy was that most members were casual players, not really focusing on YDDGRASIL. Even in the most active days of the guild, less than half of the members could truly be called active.

Under normal circumstances, a guild like Force Network would not be considered an elite guild. However, there were several dedicated players, one might call them achievement hunters, that pushed the guild to the top. The point when Force Network started gaining power occurred when the guild acquired the world class item the 'Cauldron of Abundance'. This world class item allowed the generation of any type of crafting component, effectively allowing the creation of many extremely powerful items. Shortly after that, four of the original six founding members each obtained powerful crafting classes. These players acquired the ultimate general blacksmith class, 'Hammer of Creation', the ultimate general forging class, 'Forge of Infinity', the ultimate general alchemist class, 'Distiller of Eternity', and the ultimate general enchanting class, 'Imbuer of Destiny'. Together, they created the world class item, the 'Mythic Gem'. With two World Class items, the guild Force Network quickly rose in the guild rankings. However, what made them truly powerful was the fact that the two world items they had was an excellent combination. The Mythic Gem had several powerful effects, one of which was the ability to increase the effects of certain items. This ability by itself was not very impressive, but one of the items the Mythic Gem could enhance was the Cauldron of Abundance. By using these two items together, the Cauldron of Abundance effectively quadrupled its item output, allowing Force Network to create many items. With the support of the four ultimate general crafting classes, they were able to create many items that rivaled the power of guild weapons.

After tasting defeat at the hands of Force Network, many rival guilds complained to the developers, but predictably, they did nothing.

Force Network gathered information about many different class combinations and shared it with their members, causing several members to restart their characters. A little over two years ago, Force Network attacked the ultimate guild base of Alfheim and conquered it, making it their main base. They quickly used the 3000 levels of custom NPCs and equipped their creations with powerful equipment to repel intruders. To enhance their defenses, they also had their crafters create many powerful golems to aid in the defense. Each of these golems was made of extremely rare materials from the Cauldron of Abundance and was capable of fighting an entire party of max level players. While they were arguably the guild with the most power at their disposal, they were never able to acquire another world item, possibly due to their lack of dedicated players and badly timed opportunities.

XXX

Mitsuo had been in Force Network for a little over a year now. He found it slightly ironic that they had gotten so powerful, only for the game to shut down. Mitsuo had been invited by his sister to join the guild, but he was never active in it. From what he knew, Harumi had been invited by one of her friends in college. Despite being a casual player, he managed to get his character, Kaching, level 100 thanks to YDDGRASIL's generous EXP system.

Force Network had hosted a party for all remaining guild members at their guild base a short time ago. They had said their goodbyes, had emotional moments, and reminisced old times. To be honest, Kaching felt a little out of place there. After a while, people started logging out to do various other things, most likely go to sleep considering the time. Kaching took a quick tour of their guild base before travelling to this hill to watch the fireworks the developers promised. There were several players on a nearby field socializing, but Kaching did not have many friends nor was he very sociable in YDDGRASIL, so he did not join them. Besides, he thought that he could have a better vantage point from the hill. Even if the developers claimed that the fireworks would be visible almost everywhere, it didn't hurt to try.

Kaching took a quick look at his guild tab on his HUD and saw that he was the only guild member still online. It wouldn't matter either way as he would be soon forcibly logged out. Kaching decided to lie on the ground, watching the fireworks in the distance, and reminisced about the short time he spent in YDDGRASIL. Eventually, he let his mind wander over inconsequential things as the time ticked by.

Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, Kaching adjusted his position on the hill, feeling the grass beneath his fingers as he turned on his side.

It took him a few moments to sense that something was wrong. Instantly, the player Kaching jumped to his feet on reflex and looked around. The area he was in was unfamiliar to him. While the land seemed peaceful, the terrain was not what he saw several minutes ago. Kaching wondered what was wrong for a few seconds before he realized that he shouldn't have been able to feel anything earlier. He quickly concluded that he was no longer in a game and this was a new reality.

Kaching was slightly surprised by how quick he came to this conclusion. He wondered what could have caused him to think this way, and his mind instantly provided an answer.

In YDDGRASIL, Kaching had acquired a powerful class called 'Enlightened One'. This class had many benefits, but the one that stood out now was the skill 'Supreme Insight'. The flavor text for this skill stated 'The one who achieves enlightenment shall gain the power to quickly comprehend everything, understanding the world in ways normal ones cannot imagine'. In game, it was a passive skill that lowered the cost of all spells and reduced the casting time and cooldown time of skills and spells. To Kaching's knowledge, it was one of the few ways to shorten the cooldown time of super-tier spells, although it still took a significant amount of time before one could cast another super-tier spell.

In this new world, however, the Supreme Insight skill seemed to allow Kaching to gain insight to various things. Somehow, he knew he was in another world and his skills and abilities from YDDGRASIL worked here. He knew that he could access his inventory, cast spells, and do things that would normally be impossible. However, he also knew that he lacked knowledge in other areas. For example, while he knew what he could do, he did not know what the people of this world could do, if there were any at all.

Kaching was slightly worried about his predicament. He was not a devoted player of YDDGRASIL. While his guildmates said his build was excellent, the fact that he could not verify it himself proved that his knowledge was lacking. Kaching knew many classes, builds, and combos, but he didn't study them seriously; an elite player knew much more than him. Additionally, this was his fifth attempt at creating a character, so he was not familiar with all of its mechanics. YDDGRASIL only allowed one character per player, but the player could always reset their character. He had many things to learn.

To complicate matters, he was alone. Kaching never played solo in YDDGRASIL; he always had a group to support him. The last day was an exception, as it was the end of YDDGRASIL as all of the monsters were not aggressive and no one wanted to fight another player. He normally played with five other players: Ironwall, Katsuo, and Yamato on the frontlines, Echolord exploring the area, and his sister ChocoTart supporting the group. Even when he didn't go with his usual group, someone in the Force Network was always available. Kaching had no experience travelling solo, and to make matters worse, he was a magic caster. Magic casters were strong, but they had a few weaknesses, such as needing MP to use their most powerful abilities. The problem that stood out now was the fact that he was exceptionally weak in a melee fight. If an enemy got close to him, his chances of victory would plummet. Kaching did not have any abilities to summon creatures to act as meatshields. While he did know the warrior transformation spell [Warrior Form], which was a weaker version of [Perfect Warrior], it would only make him a subpar warrior. There were many potential problems and he lacked information.

"First things first, though."

Kaching cast several information spells on himself and his surroundings. For the most part, the information he received was exactly as he expected. There were no powerful monsters in the area, no signs of magic, and nothing affecting his body. Two things surprised him, though. First was the fact that friendly fire was on, as he had to deactivate his counterintelligence skills and spells before he could get any information. Second was the fact that now he was somehow able to wear rings on all of his fingers, instead of just two. Players in YDDGRASIL could do so, but they had to spend real money to buy that privilege. Kaching did not spend any money in YDDGRASIL, and only had a few cash shop items that were given to him by others.

Kaching then went through his inventory, identifying the effects of several key items. He would have gone through everything, but his inventory was massive. From scrolls, to potions, to raw materials, he had a staggering amount of every type of item imaginable, with the notable exception of cash shop items.

Currently, Kaching was wearing a guild ring and a ring that increased his defenses. He removed the guild ring and put on four rings in its place. First was a Greater Sustenance Ring, which would greatly reduce his need for food and sleep. Second was a Supreme Ring of Revival, which would automatically resurrect him if he died with minimal experience loss. The ring could be used once before it needed a day to recharge. He just hoped he didn't have to test it out. Third was a Greater Ring of Concealment, which would shield him from divination and information gathering spells. Finally was a Store Link Ring, an item crafted by the top crafters of Force Network. It had the ability to store and share certain things between players. In YDDGRASIL, members of Force Network often used this to power level players. However, Kaching's identification spell revealed that this ring could now store and share much more, from nourishment, to rest, to experience. For some reason, he could use it to share MP but not store it. It was also incapable of storing or sharing HP. However, with this and the Greater Ring of Sustenance, he could survive many days without food, water or sleep once he stockpiled enough. Kaching had 9 other Store Link Rings in his inventory, as well as over 50 Branch Store Link Rings: rings that could link with other Store Link Rings, but could only take from the storage, not add to it. From what Kaching learned from his identification spells, these rings could now be used to give their bearers benefits from the Store Link Ring, but they couldn't take it on their own, a user of the Store Link Ring had to command the withdrawal. Surprisingly, the Store Link Ring now had the ability to give its benefits to individuals nearby, albeit inefficiently, upon the command of its owner. However, what interested Kaching in it now was the ability to link up with other rings to increase storage capacity. With over 60 rings, he could store a huge amount of nourishment and stamina. Of course, he had to sleep and eat first, but it could be useful in the future.

Realizing he needed more information next, Kaching cast a [Greater Arcane Eye] spell and started searching for signs of life. There was no intelligent life in the nearby area, but this spell allowed him to search far away. After a while, he came across what appeared to be a caravan lead by humans traveling on a dirt road. From what he saw, the people here were of a very low level and poorly equipped. Kaching switched out his more noticeable equipment to weak items, cast spells on the rest to conceal their power to blend in with them, and teleported to a location along the road the caravan was travelling. If he encountered a bad situation, he could easily swap out his gear thanks to some of his equipment's abilities. Thus, the player Kaching encountered the people of this new world for the first time.

XXX

 **I think I'll stop it there. I'll put two character sheets on this page.**

 **XXX**

 **Kaching/Mitsuo Yagami**

 **The Sage in Way Over His Head**

 **Alignment: -25, Neutral**

 **Job: Unemployed/Searching for job (In both worlds)**

 **Residence: Kyoto/Currently a traveler**

 **Racial Level: 0 (Humans don't have a racial level)**

 **Job Level: 100**

 **Mage Adept Lv. 10**

 **Arcane Scholar Lv. 10**

 **Enchanter Lv. 10**

 **Spiritualist Lv. 10**

 **Sage Lv. 10**

 **Divine Scholar Lv. 10**

 **Scribe Lv. 10**

 **Master Sage Lv. 5**

 **Master Enchanter Lv. 5**

 **Master Spiritualist Lv. 5**

 **Divine Master Lv. 5**

 **Arcane Master Lv. 5**

 **Enlightened One Lv. 5**

 **HP: 65**

 **MP: 100+ (Exceeds Limit)**

 **P. Atk: 10**

 **P: Def: 70**

 **Agility: 60**

 **M. Atk: 100**

 **M: Def: 90**

 **Resistance: 95**

 **Special: 100**

 **Total: 690+**

 **These stats may seem high, but most of it is from the equipment that Kaching has equipped. His stats with Legendary-class equipment is not quite as impressive. As mentioned, Kaching/Mitsuo had assistance in building his character from his guild, so even as a casual player, he was able to get several powerful classes.**

 **For this sheet, I decided to put the classes in the order the Kaching obtained them. Thus, he first got the mage adept class, then the arcane scholar class, then the enchanter class, and so on.**

 **Kaching acted as the DPS caster of his group in YDDGRASIL. Thanks to some of his class abilities and help form his guildmates, he knows over 500 spells, although he usually only uses a handful of them.**

 **The sage and master sage classes are classes that allow a player to use both divine and arcane magic. While they cannot use arcane magic as powerful as a dedicated arcane caster or divine magic as powerful as a dedicated divine caster, they can use both to adapt to their situation. The sage class cannot be taken if one has levels in certain magic classes such as Wizard, Sorcerer, Priest/Priestess, or Cleric, and once a character gets a level in sage, the character cannot take levels in those classes. The requirements of the sage class are a character level of 40 and a minimum of 5 levels in a beginner magic class, usually mage adept or acolyte. In order to gain the sage class, the player must also obtain the event item 'Zen Scroll'. While not rare, this item is difficult to obtain for players under level 50. The sage class receives bonuses based on the prerequisite classes taken, in Kaching's case giving him additional magic attack as he chose mage adept.**

 **The spiritualist and master spiritualist class is not required for this build, but gives several bonuses to the enlightened one class.**

 **Although Force Network had a player with the 'Imbuer of Destiny' class, there were a handful of situations in which a player with the master enchanter class could enchant better. Therefore, Kaching took this class to support his guild. Fortunately, in YDDGRASIL crafting, production, and enhancement classes gave stat growth and occasionally bonuses to other classes. Enchanter classes gave growth consistent with magic caster classes and several useful spells.**

 **XXX**

 **Chocotart/ Harumi Yagami**

 **The Cheerful Healer**

 **Alignment: 150, Minor good**

 **Job: Student**

 **Residence: Kyoto**

 **Racial Level: 0 (Humans don't have a racial level)**

 **Job Level: 100**

 **Acolyte Lv. 15**

 **Alchemist Lv. 15**

 **Advanced Alchemist Lv. 10**

 **Priestess Lv. 10**

 **Herbalist Lv. 10**

 **Divine Scholar Lv. 10**

 **High Priestess Lv. 5**

 **Master Alchemist Lv. 5**

 **Divine Master Lv. 5**

 **Barrier Lord Lv. 10**

 **Barrier Master Lv. 5**

 **HP: 80**

 **MP: 100+ (Exceeds Limit)**

 **P. Atk: 10**

 **P: Def: 80**

 **Agility: 50**

 **M. Atk: 50**

 **M: Def: 100**

 **Resistance: 100**

 **Special: 100**

 **Total: 670+**

 **Chocotart has a support healer build. Again, most of these stats are from equipment. Chocotart/Harumi had help building her character like Kaching, but she was much more active in YDDGRASIL. Again, these classes are listed in the order that she took them in.**

 **Similar to Kaching's case, Chocotart took the Master Alchemist job even though Force Network had a Distiller of Eternity because there were a few items a Master Alchemist could create better. Additionally, the alchemist classes synergized well with the priestess classes, giving good stat growth and class bonuses.**

 **Chocotart is a powerful healer who is best when in a group. Although not completely helpless, when playing solo most of her abilities cannot be used effectively.**

 **Chocotart was present during the last day of YDDGRASIL, but logged out before the shutdown. She will not be appearing in this story, although she may be mentioned.**


	2. Chapter 2

Kaching watched as the caravan approached, feeling somewhat nervous. In a worst-case scenario, this would end up in a battle. There were four wagons in this caravan, and Kaching's earlier spells indicated there were no powerful beings in them. However, there were many ways to deceive that spell. Despite this, Kaching knew that it was worth taking a risk here.

As the caravan approached, a voice called out.

"Hey, who's there?"

Kaching stepped forward and introduced himself.

"Hello, I am a traveler and I seem to have gotten lost. My name is"

Kaching froze for an instant. What should he call himself? He didn't want these people to know his character name. While he was not famous in YDDGRASIL, some might connect him to Force Network. While they had good standing in the community, every guild had its enemies and he did not want to face an enemy over something trivial.

Giving a soft cough and clearing his throat, he continued.

"My name is Mitsuo."

While it was his real name, it was a common name in Japan and no one would be able to link it to him, especially if he did not give his last name.

Fortunately, it seemed his gamble paid off. The leader of the caravan was a merchant who, while originally skeptical of Mitsuo's story, agreed to talk for a few minutes. Mitsuo learned several things that convinced him that he was in another world. The caravan was headed to a town called E-Rantel, which Mitsuo had never heard of before. Deciding that going to a city would be a good place to start gathering information, Mitsuo asked to accompany the caravan to its destination, however, he ran into a problem.

"I don't mind you coming, but nothing in life is free. I had to hire adventures to guard my supplies. If you want to join us, you need to help pay the cost. I'll let you come with us if you pay 15 silver coins."

This put Mitsuo in a dilemma. While he had many items, he didn't have much YDDGRASIL gold on him. Furthermore, he did not know how valuable his items and currency were in this world. Perhaps gold was valuable here or perhaps it was worthless. Deciding it was not worth the risk to offer the merchant something of too high or too low value, Mitsuo decided to avoid the situation.

"Thank you, but on second thought, I do not wish to impose. If you have taken the expense of hiring bodyguards, surely protecting one more person would spread your defenses. Could you point me toward the nearest settlement, even if it's only a small village?"

"Well, there are plenty of villages around the area, but I don't know this area very well. If you follow this road in the opposite direction we're going, then it will take you past several villages on the way to E-Pespel, I believe Carne is the first one you'll encounter. It should be several hours away on horse."

"Thank you sir, I wish you safety on your travels."

After wishing the merchant luck, Mitsuo watched as the caravan passed. While he could continue on tonight, it was getting late and he was tired. Even with the greater ring of sustenance, he still needed to sleep, albeit only about an hour a day. However, he was still tired since before entering this world and wanted a good rest. Mitsuo cast [Fly] and [Greater Invisibility] and flew to a secluded spot by a forest. His information spells revealed no living beings other than animals in the nearby area, so he decided here was as good of a place as any.

[Create House]

Mitsuo cast a spell and a small building appeared in the location he chose. In YDDGRASIL, this created a temporary base that allowed the player to stay in and recover HP and MP while logged off. There were few disadvantages to this spell. Even if enemies destroyed the house, all that would happen was the player would stop recovering. In this world, it seemed to be able to truly create a house. Mitsuo entered the newly created building and was pleased to find that it came equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. Sadly, Mitsuo was not skilled as a cook and did not have the chef class in YDDGRASIL. Fortunately, he did have some food in his inventory, prepared by his comrade Yamato. He took out a burger and drink and greedily devoured it. It was far better than the bland meat paste he was used to eating. Mitsuo knew that this food would give him a temporary boost in stats, but he honestly didn't care about that. The boost was relatively small and he just wanted something to eat. After his meal, Mitsuo used the bathroom, took a bath, and went to rest in the bed. It was surprisingly soft and comfortable.

As he lay in bed, Mitsuo wondered what he should do now. He entertained the idea of looking for a way back to his world, but decided against it. Other than his family, he didn't have any attachments to that world. Mitsuo knew he wanted to stay in this world, where the air was fresh and nature was not polluted with waste, but he didn't know what to do with his life. Even in his old world, he didn't really have a strong purpose. After pondering on it for a while, Mitsuo decided to take things as they came and let things play out on their own. That's what he always did anyway.

XXX

Mitsuo woke up a little before midday and left his house, dispelling it after leaving. He then cast another [Greater Arcane Eye] spell and looked for nearby villages. If the information from the merchant was correct, the nearest village should be called Carne. Mitsuo had a silent laugh at that name before focusing his attention on the spell. Eventually, he found a village full with activity. Unexpectedly, that activity was a group of mounted warriors slaughtering the villagers. Mitsuo watched the scene in disgust. He had seen several scenes of violence, from old nature documentaries to pictures from the wars in Europe, but this was somehow different. Mitsuo felt a natural urge to help these people, but he wasn't stupid enough to go charging in unprepared. He first cast several spells on himself before using his magic to scout the surrounding area. There were no people coming to help the village, so it fell to him to do so.

Mitsuo found two dismounted warriors chasing a pair of young village girls at the outskirts of the area. Deciding that this was a good place to start, he cast [Greater Teleportation] and teleported to their location.

XXX

Mitsuo arrived as one of the warriors slashed one of the girls across the back. He was under the effects of [Greater Invisibility], and it seemed like the armored warrior couldn't see him. Taking a closer look at these two warriors, they somehow reminded him of knights, although they hardly seemed like paragons of chivalry. Mitsuo had an idea of how powerful these knights were based on the information he analyzed, but he wasn't feeling reckless, so he cast his spells while the knights were still distracted.

[Widen Magic: Stun] [Lightning]

The first spell hit the two village girls and one of the knights. The second one caused a bolt of lightning to pierce the second knight. Although the strike was not aimed at anything vital, the metal armor conducted the lightning and knocked the knight unconscious.

Mitsuo stared at his work. He hadn't intended to do so, but he had almost killed the second knight. Mitsuo decided to heal the wounds on the girl and the knight before teleporting away with the two girls.

XXX

Mitsuo teleported to an area far from the village, but still within visible range, nearby the forest. While he had saved the girls, he still needed more information. Seeing that the younger girl was still a child and likely not to know much, he cast a memory modification on the older girl.

Mitsuo used this spell because it had the ability to change the memories of NPCs in YDDGRASIL. Logically, it should work on these girls, but he reasoned that changing memories implied being able to read memories. His gamble paid off and he was able to read the memories of the village girl.

Score one for required secondary powers.

Mitsuo learned that the girl, Enri, was a simple village girl with almost nothing special about her. Sadly, she didn't seem to know anything about why the village was under attack. Despite searching through many memories, there were only a few things that Mitsuo learned from her, including the value of currency and certain items in this world.

Ending the spell, Mitsuo sighed. He had learned almost nothing of value, and still didn't know why this attack was happening.

Mitsuo suddenly regretted not having his sister with him in this situation. Although Harumi was quite annoying at times, her character, Chocotart, was an alchemist and herbalist. Apparently potions were quite valuable here and there were abundant herbs in the forest.

Mitsuo decided it would be best to capture and gather information from one of the knights next, possibly one of the ones he had subdued earlier, but as he stood up, he suddenly felt dizzy.

Confused at what was happening, Mitsuo focused his senses on his body and what he found shocked him.

Currently, he was almost out of mana, and his amulet had used two of its charges recently.

Impossible.

Mitsuo's character build did not have that much mana naturally, but he compensated for that with his equipment. Most of his normal equipment had several stat bonuses, but he didn't have them equipped now, so he didn't benefit from them. However, he did still have his divine-class amulet equipped. His amulet, ingeniously named the 'Magic Pendant', which was crafted with extremely rare materials from the Cauldron of Abundance and the power of Force Network's greatest crafters, greatly increased his MP, giving Mitsuo three times the mana as the average max level magic casters. It also significantly increased his mana regeneration and automatically restored about 10 percent of his maximum mana once it ran out, up to four times per day. In addition to these abilities, it could cancel the cast time of any spell, even a super-tier spell. The amulet could only use this ability once before the user had to wait 24 hours before they could use it again.

The fact that a casual player like Kaching had many items of this level showed how strong Force Network was. Was it any wonder that several guild complained about it?

Mitsuo didn't understand how he had lost so much MP in such a short time. A moment later, his supreme insight kicked in and gave him the answer. Apparently, not only had spell effects changed in this world, but also so had spell costs. The memory spell he had cast took an enormous amount of MP from him.

This changed things. Although Mitsuo wanted to gather more information and help the villagers, he was reluctant to try without his magic. Although his amulet still had two charges left, he didn't want to use them unless necessary. He was even more reluctant to use his consumable items to restore MP, as he didn't know if they could be replaced. Until he knew more, he had to consider everything in his inventory irreplaceable.

With no options left, Mitsuo was forced to wait for his mana to recover. Thanks to his enormous mana capacity, it took two minutes to restore a single percentage point in his MP, even with the enhanced regeneration of his pendant.

While he was waiting, Mitsuo decided to equip another ring. Mitsuo chose the 'Greater Master's Ring', an item he had obtained from a quest several months ago, with his previous character. In YDDGRASIL, it was an item that gave the wearer experience just by having it equipped, even when logged off. However, this experience gain was quite slow and it didn't work once the character was over level 75, so it was not very useful. The quest that he got it from had pretty poor item rewards, if not for the impressive experience reward, it wouldn't be worthwhile. However, in this new world, the ring's abilities changed. When Mitsuo used his information spells on it earlier, he learned that it could be used with the Store Link Ring to transfer experience to others. Even better, the ring would generate experience if he equipped it, even though he was over level 75. While he couldn't use the experience, he could transfer it to others. Mitsuo realized that he could use this ring to power level the people of this world, as they were at an extremely low level. It might take some time to build up the experience, and it would take a lot of experience to get the people here to higher levels, but it could be done.

Mitsuo waited 30 minutes to recover 15 percent of his MP before acting. He honestly wanted to recover more, but he had to balance risk against reward. Mitsuo cast a spell on the two girls to protect them before leaving.

[Blessed Sanctuary]

This spell would protect the girls from low-level attacks. The creatures he saw in this world were quite weak, so they should be OK even if they remained unconscious. Mitsuo then cast his next spells.

[Greater Invisibility] [Fly] [Greater Teleportaion]

Mitsuo teleported to the location where he had subdued the two knights earlier. To his surprise, they weren't there. As he looked around, he saw a company of riders in the distance. Fearing the worst, he flew toward the village.

What he found there was the smoking remains of the village. Carne Village had been destroyed.

XXX

 **Well, that was quite dark at the end. To cheer you up, here are two more character sheets. Again, these characters will not be appearing in the story, they members of Kaching's guild who I'm describing to add background information, so feel free to skip this if it bores you. Also, the levels are once again in the order that they were gained.**

 **XXX**

 **Ironwall**

 **The Impregnable Wall**

 **Alignment: 30, Neutral**

 **Job: Office Worker**

 **Residence: Kyoto**

 **Racial Level: 0 (Humans don't have a racial level)**

 **Job Level: 100**

 **Guard Lv. 15**

 **Blacksmith Lv. 15**

 **Advance Smith Lv.10**

 **Defender Lv. 10**

 **Master at Arms Lv. 10**

 **Mercenary Lv. 10**

 **Guardian Lv. 5**

 **Master Smith Lv. 5**

 **Shield Lord Lv. 10**

 **Shield Master Lv. 5**

 **Protector of the Nine Realms Lv. 5**

 **HP: 100+ (Exceeds Limit)**

 **MP: 0**

 **P. Atk: 60**

 **P: Def: 100+ (Exceeds Limit)**

 **Agility: 50**

 **M. Atk: 0**

 **M: Def: 80**

 **Resistance: 100**

 **Special: 100**

 **Total: 540+**

 **Ironwall has a pure tank build. His attack is subpar, but he can take quite a beating. Again most of his stats are enhanced by his equipment.**

 **The Protector of the Nine Realms class is a powerful class that can only be obtained after completing a certain quest in all nine of YDDGRASIL's worlds. This is quite difficult, as characters are naturally at a disadvantage in certain worlds depending on their race. Ironwall was able to achieve this class with the support of several of his guildmates.**

 **Unlike most members of Kaching's normal group, Ironwall is a serious YDDGRASIL player and often acted as one of the guild's main tanks.**

 **XXX**

 **Katsuo**

 **The Steel Samurai**

 **Alignment: 110, Minor Good**

 **Job: Inventory Manager**

 **Residence: Hiroshima**

 **Racial Level: 0 (Humans don't have a racial level)**

 **Job Level: 100**

 **Soldier Lv. 15**

 **Forger Lv. 15**

 **Advanced Forger Lv. 10**

 **Samurai Lv. 10**

 **Sword Saint Lv. 10**

 **Master at Arms Lv. 10**

 **Master Samurai Lv. 5**

 **Master Forger Lv. 5**

 **Iron Samurai Lv. 10**

 **Master Iron Samurai Lv. 5**

 **Sword Master Lv. 5**

 **HP: 100**

 **MP: 0**

 **P. Atk: 90**

 **P: Def: 85**

 **Agility: 70**

 **M. Atk: 0**

 **M: Def: 70**

 **Resistance: 100**

 **Special: 70**

 **Total: 585**

 **Katsuo is a character built around the Samurai class. He unlocked the Iron Samurai class by having a samurai with forging classes. Most Samurai players don't bother with production, or if they do they usually choose blacksmith classes. Forging is an unpopular class that is usually taken by demihuman or heteromorphic characters. The stat bonuses of forging classes do benefit warrior classes, but not as much as blacksmith classes. That being said, while Iron Samurai is an impressive class, it is not as strong as several other elite classes. Relative to other players, Katsuo would be considered in the middle of max level players in terms of character builds, not counting equipment.**

 **The sword master class that Katsuo took last is only an intermediate warrior class. Katsuo only took it because he had five extra levels in his character and it was the best fit for his build that he could find.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**

 **Time for review responses.**

 **PervySageChuck: The funny thing is that there is a real possibility of the 'Pervy Sage' class existing in YDDGRASIL. While the game bans and adult material, there are ways to work around this in universe. That class may actually exist.**

 **MadDan90: Mitsuo knew that the people of the village were in trouble, but he wasn't willing to risk his own safety for a bunch of strangers. He had to balance his need for personal safety with his desire to protect the villagers. As a magic caster, Mitsuo is much weaker without mana. Remember that at this point Mitsuo doesn't have much information about the world. At the end of the day, if he had to choose between the lives of strangers and his own life, he would prioritize himself. Naturally, he would try to save others, but he won't sacrifice himself to do so. Mitsuo knew the knights would still kill the villagers, but thought that if he rushed in, he could be killed as well.**

 **Thank you for your feedback everyone.**

XXX

Mitsuo looked at the devastated remains of the village below him, regretful that he could not save the people there.

'Well, it can't be helped now. Guess I'll just keep an eye on things.'

There were about five villagers still alive in the devastated village. Mitsuo had no idea why they were spared, but he resolved to at least watch over them. Mitsuo did not want to assist them directly and reveal himself just yet, so he observed them from a distant hill using magic binoculars from his inventory. Mitsuo decided that he would observe them until his MP was fully restored, then use magic to knock them out and transport them to the nearest village or town.

The player watched in silence for a little over two hours before something occurred. A group of armed warriors, seemingly much more disorganized than the earlier knights, approached the village. Mitsuo was unsure what this was about, but prepared to take action to aid the villagers should the warriors attack. Fortunately, the warriors seemed to be here to assist the surviving villagers. Mitsuo watched the situation for about five minutes before he was satisfied he could leave things here to the warriors and was about to leave when he saw the warriors suddenly become agitated. Confused at what was occurring, Mitsuo scouted his surroundings and detected several individuals had encircled the now destroyed village. Each of these individuals had an archangel flame, a low-level angel, hovering by them, indicating that they were magic casters who could summon creatures. Mitsuo's current location was far enough away that he was not in the encirclement and he had a good view of the entire area.

'What is going on here?'

Mitsuo was confused at these events. He came up with several possibilities as to what was happening, but he lacked enough information to come to a solid conclusion.

The mounted warriors acted with a surprising degree of discipline. Five of them stayed behind in the ruins of the village while the rest charged out to attack the new group. Once the magic casters saw the warriors charge, they changed their formation to tighten the encirclement around the attacking warriors. This allowed the warriors who were left behind to flee with the five surviving villagers. The archangel flames swarmed the charging warriors, who seemed to be acting as a diversion for the other group. The warriors were all unable to damage the angels, their swords only managing to score light wounds. There was only one exception. One of the warriors easily slew the attacking angels and charged at the group of magic casters. However, he was beset by wave upon wave of angels and Mitsuo could see his fatigue starting to build. After a few minutes, all of the other warriors had been killed and the last remaining warrior struggled against the swarm of angels.

Mitsuo considered his position for a moment before deciding to take a risk. He currently had about 85 percent of his max mana, which should be enough for his plan. Mitsuo cast an information-jamming spell to scramble any scrying spells that may be active over this area before starting his plan.

[Control Weather]

With Mitsuo's spell, strong winds started to blow, causing a dust storm. Under the cover of this storm, Mitsuo teleported by the warrior and cast another spell.

[Stun]

The sole surviving warrior fell unconscious. Mitsuo quickly grabbed the warrior and teleported back to his position on the hill.

Once the dust cleared, the magic casters could see that the warrior was no longer on the battlefield. The magic casters seemed shocked at this turn of events, but Mitsuo didn't stick around to observe them. He teleported to three random locations before teleporting back to where he had left the two girls earlier. By teleporting to three random locations, he would hopefully delay any pursuers who could trace teleportation long enough to finish his plan and escape. Ideally, the magic casters would believe that the warrior was carrying some sort of consumable item that let him escape, but Mitsuo wasn't counting on that. In the end, this was just to buy time.

To his surprise, the two girls from earlier were still unconscious. It seemed that they were more exhausted than he realized. The [Blessed Sanctuary] was still active, protecting the girls. The spell last for three hours unless dispelled, so Mitsuo predicted that it had about 15 minutes left. Mitsuo carried the unconscious man to the edge of the protective spell and placed him on the ground, just outside of the spell's range. The man was severely injured but it seemed that he would live. Mitsuo looked at the man's tanned skin and short, black hair before casting his memory modification spell.

Mitsuo quickly went through the man's memories and gathered all the information he could as efficiently as possible. As soon as he felt his amulet activate, restoring some of his mana, he implanted a false memory into Gazef of him receiving a single-use item from a stranger that supposedly could make the user invisible for a short time before he arrived in Carne Village. He then created another false memory of Gazef using that item to slip past the attacking angels as soon as the dust storm occurred, with his last memory running as fast as he could away from the area. With any luck, Gazef would believe he unconsciously ran to this location. Mitsuo, now knowing Gazef's personality, made sure that he would believe that he had a strong desire to return to the King at that time and inform him of the true culprits behind these massacres. It wasn't perfect, but it should do. Once the memories were implanted, Mitsuo ended the spell. Unfortunately, it seemed he took too long and the last charge of his pendant activated. Now he had little room for error.

Mitsuo sighed as he looked at Gazef's unconscious form. Mitsuo only had enough mana to search one person's memories. He wanted to get information from the other group as well, but that was beyond his capabilities. Unfortunately, while Gazef had an idea of who the people attacking him were, he did now why they had decided to attack him. Mitsuo knew from Gazef's memories that the nobles of the Kingdom were likely aiding the would-be assassins, but he had no idea why the Theocracy wanted Gazef dead as well. Again, he had several theories, but not enough evidence to make a concrete statement.

There was nothing else he could do at this point. Until his mana recovered, he wouldn't be able to use his spell again to read minds. By that time, the theocracy forces would surely withdraw. While he was unsatisfied with this result, Mitsuo believed he had made the best decisions at the time given the circumstances.

Before he left, Mitsuo decided to test out something. He put his hand on the younger girl and let energy flow out of the ring on his finger. Somehow, in his mind, he could tell that this girl was a level 1 villager. Adding experience to the girl, he gave her enough experience to become level 2. Surprisingly, he somehow had the ability to choose what class level she gained. Even more surprisingly, some of the classes the girl could take had high-level requirements, some above level 40. This implied that some class restrictions that were in YDDGRASIL did not exist here. Mitsuo knew many of the different classes that she could take, but in the end, he decided to just add another level to villager class. Idly, he wondered if villager was a class in YDDGRASIL. He didn't think it was, but he did not know all of the classes in YDDGRASIL, so he couldn't say for certain. He didn't recognize many other classes here, such as herder, runesmith, and sword maniac. At this, Mitsuo could only curse his lack of YDDGRASIL knowledge. Through the connection he had with her, he could tell that she had become a level 2 villager. Mitsuo still had some experience stored in his ring, so he turned to the older girl with blonde hair. He did the same thing to her, raising her level to 2, but this time did not specify which class she should gain. Somehow, the class was chosen for him and the girl gained a level in sergeant.

Mitsuo was interested in these results and wanted to experiment more, but he decided against it. It probably wasn't a good idea to mess around here too much.

Mitsuo had a bit of mana left, so he cast some spells to help these survivors.

[Regeneration] [Delay Magic: Mass Awaken]

These spells would ensure that Gazef would survive and the three of them would wake up in a while.

"Consider this a small payment for failing to save all of you. It may be insufficient, but it is all I can do right now."

With nothing left to do here, Mitsuo walked away.

XXX

Mitsuo spent the next three hours waiting for his mana to recover. During that time, he used his magic binoculars to observe the Slaine Theocracy's agents, but they didn't stick around for long. Fortunately, they withdrew in a direction that wouldn't have them cross paths with the three survivors.

After his mana had recovered to a sufficient level, Mitsuo teleported to the remains of Carne Village. He decided to conduct another experiment here. Finding a corpse, he cast his magic.

[Resurrection]

This was ninth-tier magic that could resurrect the dead. If it didn't work, Mitsuo could conclude that resurrection magic did not work in this world.

To his pleasure, the villager came back to life, the wound in his chest closing. This confirmed that even if he was killed, his ring could likely revive him.

The revived man drew in several sharp breaths and started coughing. A few moments later, he suddenly went completely still. Mitsuo did not know what happened, but the man was clearly dead.

Once again, the supreme insight skill activated and provided Mitsuo with an answer. The man he revived was likely level 1. His resurrection spell drained the man's experience and life force to bring him back to life. Unfortunately, he did not have enough energy left over to keep living, so he died again.

Mistuo frowned at this. That was the strongest resurrection spell that he could cast. A dedicated divine magic caster at max level could probably cast a stronger resurrection spell, but he was a Sage and did not have access to those spells. Since his spell didn't work, he wasn't capable of reviving these villagers.

Sighing, Mitsuo silently went around the ruined village, scavenging a few things, before he left the village. He considered trying to revive the warriors that had fallen, but decided against it. He didn't know how they would react to being resurrected.

Pushing these thoughts out of his mind, Mitsuo began his journey to E-Rantel.

XXX

 **Here's two more character sheets for characters who will not appear in this story.**

 **XXX**

 **Yamato**

 **Defender of Justice**

 **Alignment: 400, Great Good**

 **Job: Analyst**

 **Residence: Osaka**

 **Racial Level: 0 (Humans don't have a racial level)**

 **Job Level: 100**

 **Guard Lv. 10**

 **Cleric Lv. 10**

 **Paladin Lv. 10**

 **Battle Cleric Lv. 10**

 **Monk Lv. 5**

 **Master at Arms Lv. 5**

 **Cook/Chef Lv. 10**

 **Holy Soldier Lv. 10**

 **Holy Warrior Lv. 5**

 **Grand Paladin Lv. 5**

 **Crusader Lv. 10**

 **Grand Crusader Lv. 5**

 **Herald of Divinity Lv. 5**

 **HP: 90**

 **MP: 70**

 **P. Atk: 70**

 **P: Def: 90**

 **Agility: 30**

 **M. Atk: 30**

 **M: Def: 100**

 **Resistance: 100**

 **Special: 100**

 **Total: 680**

 **Yamato roleplayed a warrior of justice. Every class in his build, with the exception of chef, fit this theme or was a prerequisite of a class that fit this theme. Surprisingly, he obtained several powerful classes with this build and became a strong character, if a little generalized.**

 **XXX**

 **Echolord**

 **Discoverer of Secrets**

 **Alignment: -125, Evil**

 **Job: Factory Worker**

 **Residence: Kyoto**

 **Racial Level: 0 (Humans don't have a racial level)**

 **Job Level: 100**

 **Ranger Lv. 15**

 **Scout Lv. 15**

 **Explorer Lv. 10**

 **Hunter Lv. 10**

 **Archer Lv. 10**

 **Sniper Lv. 5**

 **Horizon Explorer Lv. 5**

 **Elite Ranger Lv. 5**

 **Pioneer Lv. 5**

 **Trapper Lv. 10**

 **Trap Master Lv. 5**

 **Realm Wanderer Lv. 5**

 **HP: 70**

 **MP: 60**

 **P. Atk: 90**

 **P: Def: 40**

 **Agility: 100**

 **M. Atk: 20**

 **M: Def: 50**

 **Resistance: 90**

 **Special: 80**

 **Total: 600**

 **Echolord has a character built around exploring new areas. He acts as a scout for the group, gaining information about enemies and terrain so his comrades know what they are facing. In battle, he has high attack, but poor defense.**

 **Although Echolord can use magic, most of it is support based. His attack magic is weak so he almost never uses it.**

 **The sniper class can be used with either an arrow user or a gun user. Either way, it enhances ranged attacks.**

 **The realm wanderer class, while being a class with difficult entry requirements, is not very impressive for such a rare class. Nevertheless, it is significantly superior to other end classes (level 80+), so one might consider it worthwhile.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N**

 **I can't find a reliable source that lists the conversion rates for the currency in Overlord. I know that the novel mentions a potion was worth one gold and ten silver coins in volume 2, so a gold piece is worth more than 10 silver coins. For purposes of this story, I'm setting the value of a silver coin as 20 copper coins and a gold coin as 20 silver coins. If this is overturned by canon, too bad; it's my story and I'll do what I want with it.**

 **Now for review responses**

 **Zandaino: Yes, in my story, Mitsuo has a supply of mana potions. However, since he has his amulet and was a casual player, he doesn't have as many as a normal player would.**

 **As to why he didn't use them, I mentioned that he didn't want to use his consumable items until he knew he could get more of them. Consider his situation. A hundred mana potions may be a lot for a gaming session, but if they are all that you will ever have, anyone would be wary about using them.**

 **Also, it seems that in this case, Mitsuo is correct. I recall somewhere in the LN it stated that magic casters who ran out of mana used scrolls and wands to cast spells, indicating that they didn't have any way to replenish their mana. Actually, I'm not even sure if there are mana potions in canon, the author only mentions health potions.**

 **PervySageChuck: While I would like to refute your assumption, you are essentially correct. Mitsuo is someone who admires heroes and wants to be one, but values his own life too much.**

XXX

Mitsuo walked on the road to E-Rantel. He was feeling a little discouraged after the events at Carne Village, but decided not to let it control him.

Once he was close enough to see the city clearly, Mitsuo cast several information spells to scout the city. After confirming that there were no likely traps or beings over level 50 in the area, he made some preparations and continued toward the city.

Thanks to the information he got form Gazef, Mitsuo knew a little about how this world worked and what to expect here. Anyone observing him from the city would only see a traveler wearing common clothing carrying a bag and walking toward the city gate. None of them should be able to tell that the clothes Mitsuo was wearing was powerful magic items concealed by magical enchantments. It would take a high-level magic caster to detect the true value of these items. Mitsuo's enchanter and master enchanter class was proving useful here.

Mitsuo walked up to the gate and waved at the guard. Since it was late in the morning, there were few people here trying to enter. After waiting for a few minutes, it was Mitsuo's turn. He walked up to the guard post and greeted the attending guard.

"Good morning, sir."

"Yeah, state your business in E-Rantel."

Slightly surprised at the man's gruff response, Mitsuo took a second to reply.

"Uh, yes, I'm here to trade some items. After that, I'll see what happens."

The guard answered in a completely disinterred voice.

"Toll's three copper, pay up and you can pass."

Mitsuo knew about the toll from Gazef. Fortunately, while in the remains of Carne Village, he had managed to scavenge five copper coins from the dead villagers. Mitsuo took three of them and handed them to the guard.

"Great, now get out of my sight."

Mitsuo nodded his head and walked into E-Rantel.

XXX

Once inside the city, Mitsuo used the information he obtained earlier to find the Merchant's Guild. He entered the building and met with a receptionist.

"Hello, welcome to the merchant guild, what business do you have today?"

"Hello, I wish to sell items at this guild."

"Do you have a membership with the guild?"

"No, I am not affiliated with the merchant's guild."

The receptionist narrowed her eyes at this.

"Are you aware that the guild charges a 10% fee to do business with non-members in addition to the guild's normal 10% fee?"

"Yes, that should be fine. I don't qualify for guild membership, so I don't have a choice."

The merchant's guild only allowed certain people to be members. In addition, once they became members, the guild could order them to do certain things. To Mitsuo, it was more trouble than it was worth.

"Very well, what are you selling?"

Mitsuo put his bag on the table and withdrew two ingots from it. Seeing this, the eyes of the receptionist went wide.

"Is that?"

"Yes, these are mithril ingots."

Mithril was a rare and valuable metal in this world. However, it was quite low quality for YDDGRASIL. Fortunately, Mitsuo never bothered to sell most of his old items and as a result had over a hundred ingots like this in his inventory. He actually had materials that were far more rare and valuable than mithril, but according to Gazef's memories, mithril was one of the most valuable metals known, only behind orichalcum and adamantite. Selling rare metals no one had heard of would be difficult, as they couldn't be easily priced, and attention drawing. Mitsuo would have sold orichalcum or adamantite ingots, but he didn't want to draw too much attention to himself just yet. For now, mithril seemed a good tradeoff between value and attention.

The receptionist panicked for a moment before she regained her senses and excused herself. After a minute, she returned with a man following her.

"So is this it?"

The man spoke to no one in particular. Mitsuo then asked the man for his name.

"Hm, I'm Eric Stoybin, an appraiser for the guild. Are you the one who brought this in?"

"Yes, those are my ingots. I wish to sell them here."

"Well, these seem to be pure mithril. That's quite valuable. At this quality, I'd say these are worth about 110 to 120 gold coins each. Depending on who you sell it to, you could get as much as 150 gold coins."

"Let me guess, you aren't going to pay that much."

"Hahaha, I see you aren't an idiot. Indeed, that would be the price for a member of the guild, but you said you weren't one. Additionally, you said you wanted to sell these soon, so that will lower the price even further. If you want to sell this now, I believe we can buy both of the ingots for 90 gold each. That will give you 144 gold after the fees. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes, that should be fine."

"Very well, let me just make some final checks and we can conclude our business."

Eric called over an employee who cast several spells on the ingots to determine their purity. After he was satisfied, the guild representative gave Mitsuo a bag filled with gold coins. Mitsuo quickly counted them before putting them in his inventory under the guise of putting it in his travel bag.

"Thank you, I have verified receipt of the gold. The ingots now belong to the guild. Have a good day."

With that said, Mitsuo left the merchant's guild building. He had a feeling that the ingots were worth more than what Eric told him, but wasn't willing to push it. He simply counted himself lucky that he got a good amount of money. From what he knew, this was more money than the common person of this world would earn in decades.

Mitsuo walked down the roads of E-Rantel, looking for an inn.

XXX

Eventually, Mitsuo found a cheap inn to spend the night in. He rented a large room for 12 copper and bought a large meal for 10 copper at a nearby food stall. While neither the meal nor the room was of a high quality, it wasn't too bad. While searching for his meal, Mitsuo was surprised to find that he couldn't read any of the signs in the market. It seemed that the written language here was different than what he knew. Fortunately, his supreme insight told him that he should be able to easily learn any language that follows a logical set of rules thanks to his scribe skill. Until he deciphered the language, he would have to rely on magic items to translate for him.

It was now late in the afternoon and Mitsuo was walking down a road, letting his mind wander. He pondered what he should do with his new life.

Back on Earth, Mitsuo had been a recent graduate who was searching for a job. One could say his future was bright, but that did not mean thigs couldn't be better for him. Mitsuo had no direction in his life. That part hadn't changed, but now he was apparently one of the most powerful beings in the world, if Gazef's memories could be believed. However, he had no desire to flaunt his power. He didn't want to take over the world or rule his own country; honestly that seemed like more trouble than it was worth. Going over his many options, Mitsuo decided the life of an adventurer was best for him. It would give him a certain degree of freedom and would let him use his power. Unfortunately, there was a problem.

Adventurers all worked in groups. This was only common sense. When fighting a monster, a single human would likely die. By working with teammates, the success and survival rate of adventurers would considerably rise. However, as far as he knew, Mitsuo was on his own in this world. While he probably was strong enough to solo anything this world would throw at him, it would be strange for a single person to adventure alone, the guild wouldn't allow it. He would need to find companions to join his party. Fortunately, with the Greater Master's Ring, he could strengthen his teammates so he would not need to find people who were already strong.

"Hm, a tank would be essential."

Mitsuo was a magic caster, so he needed a frontliner to cover for him. Without a meatshield, he was effectively naked in combat. Mitsuo didn't know any summoning spells, so he couldn't just summon a frontliner. He needed to recruit someone to fill that role.

Once he had a tank, he would look for a divine magic caster to support and heal the team. With him acting as an arcane magic caster that would complete the holy trinity of class roles for DMMORPGs and MMORPGs: tank, healer and DPS. While he would normally travel in a party of 6 just like YDDGRASIL, from what he knew, adventurer teams were usually 4 or 5 people.

"Although, I can act as both healer and DPS, so technically, all I need is a tank."

Mitsuo considered his position and realized that thanks to his flexible build, he could cover many roles in a party. In a pinch, he could even use a warrior transformation spell to act as a tank. Still, he wanted to have a group of at least 4 people in total, just in case of unexpected situations. Additionally, he originally acted as a DPS caster in his group, so that was the position he was most familiar with. If necessary, he could fill other roles, but it would be best if he could stay as a DPS caster in his new group.

As Mitsuo turned around a corner, he saw a trio of men beating up a young man, seemingly a teenager, who was lying on the ground. Deciding to intervene, he approached the group.

"Excuse me, but what is going on here?"

"Eh, this punk owes us money, we're just teaching him a lesson."

"I see"

Mistuo looked at the young man on the ground. He was a scrawny boy with short black hair. He was also unconscious.

"I believe you have taught him enough. Besides, it would be unfortunate if the guards saw you beating a young man in the city."

The three punks looked uneasy at this, and decided to leave, but not before one of them kicked the boy in the gut.

"Well, that just seemed unnecessary."

Mitsuo, feeling curious, decided to use his memory spell on the unconscious boy. Knowing how mana intensive his spell was, Mitsuo decided to try to limit it to 50% of his mana, which should be enough to get what he needed.

The boy's name was Hetman Armond. He used to live in a frontier village with his parents and younger sister. Unfortunately, his father was conscripted into the royal army and died in a skirmish with the Baharuth Empire a few years ago. That winter, his mother fell ill and suddenly died as they didn't have a priest in their village to treat her in time. Now orphans, Hetman and his younger sister Anna moved to E-Rantel where their uncle, Silas Ertman was working as a blacksmith. Hetman started working as a blacksmith's apprentice during that time. However, a few months ago, tragedy struck again when their uncle mysteriously died. Their uncle had substantial savings, but apparently, he also owed money or favors to many people, often paying off these debts with his work, which was amongst the best in the city. After selling everything and paying as much as they could, they were still about 20 gold in debt. Apparently, Anna and Milia Ertman, Silas's daughter, were working as waitresses in local bars to make money. Hetman himself was an errand boy, delivering packages across town. He had just finished his last delivery when those three thugs attacked him.

Hetman hated being weak and wanted to be rich and famous. He admired the Warrior-Captain Gazef and the members of the adamantite adventurer team 'Red Drop'. Herman wanted to be an adventurer, but he had no skill or talent at it. He was forced to be an errand boy to make enough money just to survive. From what he knew, his sister and cousin were unsatisfied with their lives as well and while they would likely want to have a safe and well-paying job, they didn't have any connections to get a job like that and were forced to work at low paying jobs, so they probably would be willing to become adventurers if they could.

Mistuo mentally smiled. This was perfect. If he could convince the three of them to join him, that would be 4 people in his party. While they were quite weak, he could use the experience from the Greater Master's Ring to make them stronger. Mitsuo quickly planted a false memory in Hetman. Hetman would believe Mitsuo chased the thugs off and asked if he could do anything to help. Hetman mentioned that he was in debt and wished to be an adventurer and Mitsuo claimed he was looking for some teammates, even if they were weak. Mitsuo told Hetman that he had enough money to pay off his debts and would be willing to equip and protect him if he joined his team. Hetman's last memory would be smiling before passing out.

Mitsuo ended his spell. Checking his mana reserves, he felt that he had about 47% left. While he used more than anticipated, it was acceptable. Mitsuo picked up Hetman and walked back to his room.

XXX

 **I think I'll end it there. No character sheet this time.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N**

 **So, shortly after posting last chapter, I was skimming the LN for some inspiration and came across an example of currency exchange rates. In volume 2, the innkeeper charges Ainz 7 copper and he eventually pays with one silver, getting 6 copper back. This would imply an exchange rate of 13 copper for one silver. However, since I've already set the exchange rate in this story and I'm very lazy, this information will be ignored.**

 **Now, on with the story.**

XXX

Mitsuo laid Hetman on his bed and cast a healing spell on him. Once his wounds were healed, he cast an awaken spell, as he didn't want to wait for him to wake up.

"Wha, What?"

"Are you feeling OK kid?"

"Ah, mister Mitsuo, what happened?"

"You passed out. I carried you back to this room. How are you feeling?"

"Good, in fact I feel better than I have in weeks."

"Hm, maybe your mind is feeling better. You seemed to be happy when you passed out."

"Wha, ah yes. Do you really mean what you said, mister Mitsuo?"

"Yes, and stop calling me mister. Just Mitsuo is fine."

"Ah, yes mi, uh Mitsuo. But why would you go through so much for someone like me?"

Mitsuo was expecting this question to come up eventually, so he had an answer prepared.

"Because you are in a bad situation now. If I help you when you are in trouble, you will be less likely to betray me and more likely to stay by my side. I want trustworthy teammates, even if they are initially weak. People can grow strong with time, but personality is hard to change."

Hetman looked as if he was deep in thought for a few moments before speaking again.

"Uh, miste-, um Mitsuo-san, do you think you could let some people I know join us as well? They will be loyal to you, I promise."

Mitsuo did a mental victory jig. Things were going as he hoped.

"Very well, who do you want to join us?"

"My sister and cousin. They would want to be adventurers too."

"Alright, but don't force them to join. I'll give them three days to make a decision on whether to join us. If not, I'll need to search for more people. I'll gather the money needed to pay off your debts by that time as well. You can find me in this inn; I'll be staying here for a while."

"Uh, yes, thank you. I'll be back by then."

After saying that, Hetman left the room. Mitsuo smiled as things were going his way.

XXX

A day passed by without incident. Mitsuo spent most of the day sleeping in his room. On the second day, he walked around the city, familiarizing himself with it. Since he had some time, he tried to learn the Kingdom's language, a little at a time. When he got back to the inn, he asked if there were any visitors for him, but the owner said no one had come asking for him. Mitsuo got a little worried at this as he thought Hetman would be back by now, but he pushed it out of his mind. On the third day, Mitsuo stayed by the inn, only going out to eat. Late in the afternoon, someone knocked at his door. Mitsuo used magic to see who it was, and to his surprise, there were four people there, one of them being Hetman. Figuring he might as well see what this was about, Mitsuo let them in.

The four people walked in the room. The first was Hetman Armond. The second was a girl with shoulder length brown hair, who Mitsuo recognized as Anna Armond. The third was a girl with long black hair, who Mistuo recognized as Milia Ertman. The fourth was a teenager with short blonde hair, who Mitsuo didn't recognize. Milia spoke up first.

"Is this him? Heh, he's actually kind of cute"

Mitsuo didn't know how to respond to this. His character looked like a young man in his early 20s, but 'cute' was not what he was going for.

"Yes, this is Mitsuo-san. Mitsuo, I apologize for taking so long, my sister was a little skeptical, but even she agrees that this is for the best."

"Yeah, I find it hard to believe that someone would be so generous, but if what you're saying is true, I'm willing to join you."

"Ah, don't worry, I'm an honest person. By the way, who is this? Hetman-san said he was only bringing his sister and cousin."

"Ah, this is my friend, Barker Craso. He wants to join us as well."

Anna responded to Mitsuo's question. Judging by the way Anna looked at Barker, they were more than just friends, but Mitsuo didn't pry.

"Well, as long as everyone's OK with it, it should be fine. Out of curiosity, why do you want to be an adventurer, Barker-san?"

Barker looked at the ground as he replied.

"I want money. I'm in debt because my parents borrowed a lot of money and spent it all. They were killed because they couldn't pay their debts and now I need to pay them. I'll need to spend the rest of my life working to get enough money to pay off my debts. However, if I become a powerful adventurer, I can get a lot of money quickly. If what you say is true, I'm willing to join you."

Mitsuo thought for a moment on how he should answer that before speaking.

"Well, Barker, this may be fortunate for you. How much do you need to pay off your debt?"

"I'll need a little over 52 gold to pay off my debts."

"I see, well, I believe I should explain something. I have a wealthy sponsor who wishes to invest in an adventurer team. He's willing to support us with items and money in exchange for a share of our earnings and the right to ask us to take certain requests from the guild. Don't worry about him meddling too much, he is an honest man. I believe I should be able to get enough money to pay off your debts if you agree to stay with this team. Is that OK with you?"

Barker looked up at this response, his eyes filled with hope.

"Can you really get that much gold?"

"It should be fine; it is a small price to pay for a loyal companion."

"In that case, I'll be willing to join. It'll be much better than working for the rest of my life."

Anna flashed a grin at Barker. With any luck, this would get her to stay too.

"Alright, first, let me formally introduce myself, I am Mitsuo Yagami, but you can call me Mitsuo. Now then, I should probably lay out some ground rules. In exchange for this support, I will be the team leader and have the final decision in matters concerning the team. I will also manage the team's money and decide how much we get for personal expenses, although I will ensure everyone including myself will get the same amount. The team will pay for food, lodging, and equipment, and I will negotiate with our sponsor for additional supplies and handle his requests. Is that OK with everyone?"

The four of them agreed to this. They seemed to be happy just to get out of debt. However, Hetman had a question.

"That's fine, Mitsuo, but what should we call ourselves?"

"Eh?"

"All of the famous adventurer teams have a team name. What should we be?"

"Uh, well, let's wait until we get famous first. We should at least get to gold rank before we choose a name, right?"

Hetman looked discouraged at this, but didn't argue.

"Alright, then, I believe you need this first. I'll get yours in a few days, Barker."

Mitsuo handed Hetman a small bag filled with coins. Hetman looked inside of the bag and smiled, showing it to his relatives.

"Will that be enough, Hetman-san?"

"Yes, it should be fine."

"Very well then, I will gather equipment for all of you over the next two days. We will meet in front of the adventurer's guild three days from now about an hour after dawn. I trust you all know where it is?"

The four of them nodded in confirmation.

"Excellent, I will have your money by then, Barker-san. Before all of you go, I'd like to give something to you."

Mitsuo grabbed one of his bags and put his hand into it. Using this as a cover, he withdrew four branch store link rings from his inventory. He gave each of his new companions one of these rings.

"Heh, what are these?"

Milia asked upon seeing the silver rings with tiny gems in them.

"These, Milia-chan, are rings, obviously. I got them from our sponsor. He claimed that they held powerful magic, but I couldn't detect anything from them. However, I think they could be a good luck charm for all of us and a symbol of our team. They seem to be valuable, so don't lose them. Don't sell them either, they are now a symbol of our team. That is my first order as team leader."

Mitsuo decided against telling them the true purpose of these rings. In addition, thanks to several enchantments on the rings, a magic caster wouldn't be able to detect any magic from them unless their detection spells were strong enough. In this case, 'strong enough' would be an average level 80 player or a level 60 player specialized in item identification. Mitsuo highly doubted anyone other than himself in this world could see past this enchantment.

"Huh, thanks. I guess this means we're a team now."

"Indeed, Hetman-san. I believe that will be all for today. I have some things to do, and I trust you all have things you need to do, especially you, Hetman. Remember, we meet in three days."

After saying their goodbyes, the four of them left Mitsuo's room. Mitsuo used information magic to observe them after they left the room. Once they were a safe distance away, Mitsuo cancelled his observation spell and focused on his store link ring, feeling the connection with the branch store link rings.

"Oh, that's interesting."

Through the connection, Mitsuo could tell all four of them were level 1 novices. The novice class was a placeholder class in YDDGRASIL. Humanoid characters all started as a level 1 novice and could change the novice class into another one at any time, although if they still had it when they hit level 21, it was automatically assigned to the last available class they took, if none were available, it was chosen at random. Mitsuo learned a few other things through his connection. Somehow, possibly though his skills, he was able to tell which classes each of his new teammates were predisposed toward. He could also tell that Milia had a talent that allowed her to use arcane magic at lower mana cost than normal.

Mitsuo decided to wait until night to strengthen his comrades. The day went by slowly. Mitsuo only left his room to eat a cheap meal for dinner. Once he thought all four of his teammates were asleep, he focused on his ring and gave them enough experience to gain five levels each. Mitsuo also changed their novice class to an appropriate class for each of them.

Barker was now a level 6 fighter. He would be the tank of the group. Hetman was now a level 6 rouge. Mitsuo had plans for how he would progress, but he would act as a scout for now. Anna was now a level 6 cleric. She would be a healer, but Mitsuo eventually wanted to give her a paladin build. Milia was now a level 6 mage adept. This would allow her to use her talent as an arcane magic caster for the group.

Once he was done, Mitsuo cut the connection with his party. Mitsuo actually had enough experience stored up to get them all to level 23 immediately, but he didn't want to do it so suddenly. Idly, he noted that even without him, they now had a balanced party.

Although he had plenty of stamina stored in his ring, Mitsuo decided to go to sleep for the rest of the night. It couldn't hurt to store up stamina while he could.

XXX

The next day, Mistuo went shopping for equipment for his new teammates. He had plenty of equipment in his inventory, but even the most basic would be far too powerful and eye catching for a new party in this world. Mitsuo purchased basic equipment for his team and some consumable items. He had already planned how they would get better items later, but for now, this would do.

After he finished shopping, Mitsuo spent more time trying to learn the local language. It was slow going, but he was making progress.

That night, Mitsuo decided to level his new group again. This time, he gave them another five levels each. Barker got all five levels in fighter, Hetman got four in rouge and one in blacksmith, Anna got four in cleric and one in guard, and Milia got four in mage adept and one in alchemist. By now, Mitsuo had planned how his team would grow until the mid-40 levels, although he didn't plan to actually level them that high for a while; it was just a contingency plan. He felt a little bad about doing this without their consent, but reasoned that it was in their best interest and they would benefit from it too.

The next day passed by without incident. Mitsuo spent the day studying and was now starting to understand parts of the Kingdom's language. He could now read some of the signs on the streets. That night, he leveled his team again, this time only giving them four levels. Barker got all his levels in fighter again, Hetman got his in blacksmith, Anna got hers in guard and Milia got hers in alchemist.

Cutting the connection again, Mitsuo drifted off to sleep.

XXX

The next morning, Mitsuo woke up earlier than usual to prepare. He had been holding the equipment he obtained for his team in his inventory space, so he had to take it out. He also withdrew the gold coins for Barker and put them in a bag. As soon as the sun rose, he left the inn and went to the adventurer's guildhall. He arrived a little early, so he had to wait for a while before his new team arrived.

"Morning, Mituso-san, you got here early I see, heh."

"Yes, Milia-chan. I wouldn't want to make you wait and I didn't have anything else to do, so I came here early."

"Ah that fine. Heh, ah, I should tell you, it's amazing, I can use magic now! So can Anna!"

"Oh, how did that happen?"

"Heh, I don't know, but I can do it! Isn't it amazing?"

"Yeah, for some reason, I feel stronger too. Maybe it was something we did recently that made us stronger?"

Barker replied to Milia, but Mitsuo wasn't interested in having this conversation. He interrupted them to get them back on track.

"While that is interesting, we have other matters to attend to. I have your equipment ready, so let's try it on."

Mitsuo handed the team the equipment he bought. All members of the team had cheap leather armor to protect them, gloves, footwear, and some type of weapon. Barker and Anna each got a short sword and shield, Hetman got a pair of daggers and Milia got a short sword. Mitsuo passed out the consumable items amongst the team. Overall, they had good equipment for a new adventurer party, but it was poor compared to a veteran party.

Hetman decided to voice his concerns.

"Uh, Mitsuo-san, didn't you say you had a sponsor who would equip us? I thought we would get better equipment than this."

"Yes, I do have a sponsor, but he wants us to gain some adventuring experience before giving us better equipment. For now, we will take easy missions to learn how to work together and function as a team. I'll negotiate with our sponsor to get better equipment once we finish a few missions."

"Ah, that should be fine then."

"Smiling at Hetman's response, Mitsuo continued."

"Anyway, we should get registered with the guild. I have your gold ready as well, Barker-san. I'll give it to you once we've finished registering."

All of the team members agreed and they walked into the adventurer's guildhall together.

XXX

 **Instead of character sheets, I think for now I'll just list the current levels of Mitsuo's team at the end of each chapter if it changes. I won't be listing detailed stats or give a summary; that would take too much effort.**

 **XXX**

 **Barker Craso**

 **Fighter Lv. 15**

 **Total Level: 15**

 **XXX**

 **Hetman Armond**

 **Rouge Lv. 10**

 **Blacksmith Lv. 5**

 **Total Level: 15**

 **XXX**

 **Anna Armond**

 **Cleric Lv. 10**

 **Guard Lv. 5**

 **Total Level: 15**

 **XXX**

 **Milia Ertman**

 **Mage Adept Lv. 10**

 **Alchemist Lv. 5**

 **Total Level: 15**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N**

 **Review response time!**

 **[Looks at reviews]**

 **Only one new review, huh? Well, I guess that can't be helped.**

 **MadDan: Thank you for your feedback, however, I think you may have misunderstood something here. The members of Mitsuo's group are all at level 15 as of the end of last chapter and the beginning of this chapter, not level 30. I think what happened is that you added up the levels I listed with the total level sum at the end, which doubled their levels. For example, Milia is a level 10 mage adapt and a level 5 alchemist, which gives her a total level of 15.**

 **You are right that Mitsuo wants his teammates to be safe, but he doesn't think it's necessary for them to have a high level at the moment. He wants to increase their level over time. His plan is to get them to a certain level quickly and give additional levels slowly from that point onwards. Of course, as the author I can tell you that things will not go exactly as planned for Mitsuo.**

XXX

Registering with the guild was surprisingly quick and easy. There were just a few papers to read and sign before they received their copper plates. Mitsuo had to use his items to read the documents, as he wasn't proficient enough with the Kingdom's alphabet yet, but he could sign his name properly.

Once their task was complete, Mitsuo gave each of his new teammates three silver coins to spend and gave Barker the gold he promised him. Mitsuo let them do whatever they wanted for the rest of the day but told them to be at the guildhall at the same time tomorrow for their first quest. Once his teammates left, Mitsuo went to find an appropriate quest. Unfortunately, after looking through the job board, he was unable to find any copper-ranked quests. All of them were at least iron rank, with the highest being mithril rank.

Mitsuo ended up asking the receptionist if there were any quests his team could take. The receptionist told him that there currently weren't any copper-ranked requests, but he always had the option of patrolling the area around E-Rantel and hunting any stray monsters that approached the city. With nothing else to do, Mitsuo accepted that task.

Mitsuo spent the rest of the day exploring E-Rantel. By now, he knew the layout of most of the city. As the sun began to set, he bought a filling dinner before returning to his room, paying the receptionist his daily room fee on the way there. While he had a lot of nourishment stored in his rings, Mitsuo thought he should stock up more while still in the city.

That night, Mitsuo intended to level his team again, but he was so preoccupied with planning for the next day, he forgot to do it. By the time he remembered, it was almost dawn. Sighing, Mitsuo prepared to meet his team at the guildhall. It wasn't like missing one night would hurt too much.

XXX

"Aah, this is boring"

"Quit complaining, Anna, this is our first job as adventurers. We need to stay alert."

"But nothing's happening Hetman. This is so booooring."

Mitsuo's team had been patrolling the area around E-Rantel for a little over three hours. However, they had not encountered any monsters.

"Ah, I thought that being an adventurer would be more exciting."

Mitsuo silently agreed with Barker's complaint. While he was not a battle maniac, he had hoped for some excitement. In addition, if his team did not defeat any monsters, they would not be paid and their rank wouldn't increase. Deciding to take action, Mitsuo silently used a pendant from his inventory. This pendant was a middle class item that had an ability that when activated could attract weak monsters under level 10 to its location. It would take some time, but this should lure some weak prey for them to kill. Fortunately, he could use this pendant without equipping it.

The patrol continued for an hour before Mitsuo saw the effect of his pendant. Eleven goblins, all crudely equipped, approached the team. Mitsuo discretely cast an identification spell on them and found that they were all around level 3 to 5. He deactivated the pendant's effect and addressed his team.

"Alright, looks like some action. Why don't the four of you handle this? I'll stay back and keep an eye on things for now."

"Eh, you're not going to fight with us?"

"Not this time, Anna. I'll help you if things go bad, but I'd like to see how well you fight. Besides, it would be bad if more enemies approached while we were all distracted."

"Ah, yes, then we'll handle this."

Mitsuo watched as the battle began. Milia cast [Reinforce Armor] and [Lesser Strength] on the others before the goblins got into combat range. The two sides clashed, with Barker and Hetman doing most of the fighting. Anna held off two of the goblins and occasionally cast a [Cure Minor Wounds] while Milia cast several [Magic Arrow] spells. The battle lasted about a minute with a victory for Mitsuo's team.

Surprisingly, Barker used a martial art during the fight, [Piercing Strike]. Mitsuo knew of martial arts in this world, but wasn't sure if his team could learn them as they didn't exist in YDDGRASIL. However, it seemed that Barker had somehow learned one.

After the battle, Mitsuo's team cut off the appropriate ear of the goblins to give to the guild before continuing their patrol. Unfortunately, they didn't encounter any other monsters and Mitsuo had to listen to Anna's complaints.

XXX

At the end of the day, the team returned to the guild and submitted the goblin ears. Each goblin was worth 10 copper, so they received five silver and 10 copper coins for their efforts today. Mitsuo gave each of the members of his team one silver to spend on personal expenses and saved the rest, intending to put it in his inventory later.

'Hah, I guess this isn't bad for a first time, but we'll need to earn more money eventually.'

The money they got wouldn't cover all of their daily expenses and a reasonable payment for the team. They needed to generate more income eventually, or Mitsuo would have to sell another item.

'Eh, it can't be helped. I guess I'll just hope for better luck tomorrow.'

Mitsuo ate a small meal with his team, and then went straight to his inn after paying for his team's rooms. He cast a [Clean] spell on himself before lying on his bed. Remembering what happened last night, Mitsuo activated his Store Link Ring and leveled his team.

Barker got two levels in Sword Saint and one level in Swordsman. Hetman got three levels in Forger, Anna got three levels in Guard, and Mila got three levels in Herbalist. After giving them experience, Mitsuo cut the connection to them and lay in bed, letting his mind wander, thinking about inconsequential things.

XXX

The next day, Mitsuo arrived early at the guildhall and checked the request board. Unfortunately, there weren't any quests his team could take, so they had to patrol again.

His team didn't take the news well.

Mitsuo begrudgingly led his team on a patrol again. This time, he activated the amulet as soon as they got a decent distance away from E-Rantel. About an hour passed before monsters showed up, but it wasn't what he was expecting.

"Wha, What's going on?"

"Why is this happening, heh?"

"Hey, am I dreaming?"

Mitsuo didn't reprimand his teammates, for he was surprised at what was approaching them as well. A large group of monsters was headed toward E-Rantel. It was difficult to see them in the distance, so Mitsuo used magic to scout them.

'You have to be kidding me. 30 Goblins, 8 Barghests, 6 Ogres, and a Troll? Why are all of these monsters coming here?'

Based on what he knew, monsters did not move in groups like this. This was less of a hunting party and more of a war band.

As he was thinking, Mitsuo's supreme insight activated again and let him know that this was likely a result of him using his pendant. These monsters were likely passing by and the pendant attracted some of the goblins. As a result, the other creatures followed, not wanting to split their group.

Mitsuo cursed under his breath as he deactivated his pendant. If things went bad here, he would have to use more power than he wanted to.

"What should we do leader? Should we run?"

"There's no point, they're too close. If we run now we won't make it. We have to fight them."

"But"

"Don't worry, Anna-chan. I may not look like it, but I can use powerful magic. We can handle this."

The other members of his team looked uncertain, but they decided to put their trust in him. As the enemies got closer, Anna cast her spells.

[Reinforce Armor] [Lesser Strength] [Lesser Dexterity]

Milia cast these spells on all three of their melee fighters. Mitsuo added his own spells to assist them.

[Haste] [Endurance] [Blazing Weapon]

Mitsuo cast these spells on all three of them as well. He then cast a spell on Milia.

[Shield Wall]

That should be enough to protect her, but Mitsuo decided to stay by Milia's side for this battle. The smaller, more agile goblins and barghests were faster than the Ogres and the Troll. Had there been more distance between them, the longer steps of the large demihumans might have negated this, but at the range they were at, the goblins and barghests arrived first. Once the enemies were in range, Mitsuo cast another spell.

[Lightning]

A bolt of lightning burst from Mitsuo's pointed finger, which hit two Barghests and luckily pierced one Ogre in the back of the formation. His teammates were surprised at him casting 3rd tier magic, but quickly focused on their foe again.

Mitsuo got off two more lighting spells, the first killing one Ogre and two goblins and the second killing a Barghest, before the more agile monsters reached their front lines. Mitsuo and Milia cast [Magic Arrow] spells at the attacking goblins, hoping to thin their numbers before the stronger creatures arrived. Mitsuo's spells killed the goblins in one hit, but Milia's spells only stunned and injured them. Still, this made them easy targets for the frontliners.

The team managed to kill 11 goblin fighters and 3 of the goblin archers before the heavy hitters arrived. Mitsuo cast two more lightning spells, killing an Ogre and a Barghest. Seeing that his team was taking some injuries, Mitsuo cast a healing spell on each of them.

[Rejuvenate]

This was a heal over time spell that gradually restored their health. It should be enough to tide them through this battle. Mitsuo cast another pair of lighting spells, killing two Barghests, before he turned his attention to the goblins that were trying to flank him.

[Force Push]

Mitsuo cast a weak knockback spell, pushing the goblins away. A few magic arrows later, the five goblins that tried to flank him were dead.

Mitsuo took a moment to analyze the battle situation. While he was busy, his teammates had managed to kill an ogre and five goblins, leaving four goblin archers, three Baghrests, two ogres, and the troll. Barker was holding off the ogres and the troll, Anna was fighting two Barghests, and Hetman was trying to kill the third injured Barghest. The four goblin archers were shooting their arrows while Milia was casting spells to support the party.

Mitsuo cast two lighting spells, killing the remaining ogres and giving Barker some room to maneuver. Mitsuo saw Hetman kill his Barghest and go to support Anna as he cast four magic arrows, killing the remaining goblin archers. After that, Mitsuo judged that the situation was under control and he could leave the rest to his team, but cast another rejuvenate spell on everyone just to be safe.

The four adventurers quickly finished off the remaining enemies. The barghests were killed first, allowing the team to focus on the troll. Mitsuo's magic had temporarily enchanted their weapons, allowing them to deal fire damage that countered the troll's regeneration. After a about a minute, the troll succumbed to its wounds and died.

"Wow, I can't believe we did that!"

"Heh, yeah, that was close, by the way, Mitsuo, I didn't know you could use 3rd tier magic."

"You never asked, Milia-chan. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to use it too one day."

Mitsuo was quite sure of that, thanks to his ring.

"Well, we should gather proof of our kills now. Hopefully this will be enough for a promotion."

At Barker's words, the team started gathering the necessary body parts of the monsters.

XXX

The guild was naturally skeptical when Mitsuo's team returned with so many monster parts, but after an investigation, they were lauded for stopping such a large group of monsters headed toward the city.

Mitsuo naturally didn't mention that it may have been his fault they were there to begin with.

The goblins killed were worth 10 copper each, the Barghests and ogres 5 silver each, and the troll a gold coin. In all, they earned 5 gold and 5 silver. Mitsuo exchanged two of the gold coins for 40 silver coins and gave 10 to each other member of the party, informing them that this money was to cover their food, lodging, and personal expenses. They deserved it.

As a result of their accomplishment, the guild decided to promote them to gold ranked adventurers. They would get their new plates the next morning and would be able to take requests of a higher difficulty level.

That night, Mitsuo decided to increase his team member's levels again. He gave each of them a three level increase. Barker got one level in Swordsman and two levels in Master at Arms. Hetman got two levels in Forger and one level in Metalworker. Anna got two levels in Guard and one level in Paladin. Milia got two levels in Herbalist and one level in Potioneer.

The metalworker and potioneer classes belonged to a certain group of classes in YDDGRASIL. Players referred to these types of classes as 'crutch classes'. They were excellent for new and low level players, but one almost never found them in a top-tier player's build. To understand why, one needed only to look at the mechanics of these classes.

The metalworker class requires a blacksmith class of exactly 5 and forger class of exactly 5, and an overall character level of 20, meaning it can be taken at level 21. As long as a player has the metalworker class, they may not take any more levels in blacksmith, forger, or their advanced classes. The metalworker class gives the skills of a both a blacksmith and a forger, more efficiently than a blacksmith or forger class, and has above average stat growth. The maximum level of this class is five.

Effectively, with five levels in blacksmith, forger, and metalworker, a level 25 character can have abilities equal to a level 14 blacksmith and level 14 forger. Thus, this class has many advantages at a low level. However, as it locks the level of its prerequisite classes, it becomes impossible to increase the player's skill level above this ceiling using normal methods. At a higher level, a dedicated blacksmith player can make items much better than a metalworker. Thus, this class is almost useless at high levels.

The potioneer class is similar, although there are some differences, such as the stat growth being more beneficial to magic casters and the max level being equivalent to a player with 15 levels in alchemist, 5 levels in high alchemist, and 7 levels in herbalist, given that the herbalist has a maximum level of 10. There are also several other similar classes that work in a similar manner, such as the magic brewer (enchanter and alchemist) and iron chef (forger and cook). YDDGRASIL's developers made it so that the bonuses of overlapping classes, such as potioneer and magic brewer, don't stack, in the interest of game balance.

In this new world, it seemed that these classes functioned identically to how they did in YDDGRASIL, right down to the prerequisites. If Mitsuo intended for his team to become level 100, this would not be a wise choice. However, the Greater Master's Ring could only increase their level to 75. At that level, these crutch classes would still be useful. Either way, Mitsuo doubted that he would increase his team's level that high; it seemed like overkill for this world.

As an added bonus, this would probably make his team the best crafters around here. From what Mitsuo saw of the equipment available for sale, he guessed that they all were made with a crafter whose skill was equivalent to level 1 or 2. The best items he saw were probably made by someone who had an equivalent level of 3. If his guess was right, the highest level of crafter in this world, at least in this area, was at most equal to level 5.

Once again, Mitsuo cut his connection with his team. Now that everything was falling into place, he just needed to wait for the right opportunity.

XXX

 **Since Mitsuo is not staying in the inn the guild recommended to Ainz in story, he didn't encounter the thugs there.**

 **Updated levels for the team!**

 **XXX**

 **Barker Craso**

 **Fighter Lv. 15**

 **Sword Saint Lv. 2**

 **Swordsman Lv. 2**

 **Master at Arms Lv. 2**

 **Total Level: 21**

 **XXX**

 **Hetman Armond**

 **Rouge Lv. 10**

 **Blacksmith Lv. 5**

 **Forger Lv. 5**

 **Metalworker Lv. 1**

 **Total Level: 21**

 **XXX**

 **Anna Armond**

 **Cleric Lv. 10**

 **Guard Lv. 10**

 **Paladin Lv. 1**

 **Total Level: 21**

 **XXX**

 **Milia Ertman**

 **Mage Adept Lv. 10**

 **Alchemist Lv. 5**

 **Herbalist Lv. 5**

 **Potioneer Lv. 1**

 **Total Level: 21**

.


	7. Chapter 7

**Review response time! (again)**

 **TyphoeusFulgel: Thanks for your support. I'm not sure which review you're talking about so I don't know if I got it or not.**

 **Anon: Mitsuo isn't worried about being identified as a YDDGRASIL player at this point, he's worried about being connected to Force Network. As long as another player doesn't know which guild he belongs to, they probably won't start any problems. They may try to find out his guild, but it would be difficult and Mitsuo can just run.**

 **Incidentally, at this point, Mitsuo would like to meet with other players if he could find them. It's natural for humans to group up and as long as they aren't hostile, they can work together. Naturally, Mituso would like to gather information about the other players before he meets them, if possible.**

 **MadDan90: You'll have to read for yourself.**

 **Smerrick1: Thanks**

 **Arawn92: Copper rank to gold rank might be a little fast, but it is still believable, in my opinion. Remember, in canon, Momon went from copper to mithril once he overcame a difficult opponent. In this case, I reason that a troll would be too much for an average silver party, so defeating one, especially one that is with so many other demihumans, is worth a promotion to gold rank. The guild tries to assign an appropriate rank to adventurers, so it would make sense that strong groups would be given some leeway. The lower ranks are to help adventurers gain experience and grow, so there's no reason for a powerful team to be kept at that level, especially in such a dangerous world.**

 **PervySageChuck: Hahaha, that is a funny theory.**

 **Now, I need to take another nap before I can write my next chapter.**

XXX

Mistuo woke up feeling refreshed from his rest. Although he had a lot of stamina stored up, it still felt good to sleep.

It was still dark outside, but Mitsuo left his room and walked around town. He had already familiarized himself with all of the public areas, so he was just wandering. As the sky began to lighten, Mistuo headed toward the adventurers guild. From what he knew, unless there was an urgent request, the quest board was usually updated early in the morning, around dawn. The last time he checked yesterday, there weren't any gold or silver ranked quests there. Perhaps there would be a new one today.

As Mitsuo walked into the guildhall, a receptionist greeted him and gave him his new gold plate. Mitsuo was honestly a little surprised at how quickly it was prepared, but he didn't pry. After waiting a while, a guild worker walked up to the board with a stack of five papers. Mitsuo wasn't the only adventurer here, there were three other men, two with a silver plate and one with a gold plate. From what Mitsuo knew, there was plenty of completion for quests in the silver and gold ranks. It seemed that these two were here to look for quests as well.

The receptionist pinned two papers listing quests to the wall. Mitsuo used a magic item to help him read the words. While he could read the language by himself now, it took some time without it. Right now, time was of the essence as the other adventurers were looking for jobs as well.

The first paper listed an iron rank quest. None of the people there grabbed it. The second listed a silver rank quest, and the two silver ranked adventurers quickly read it before one of them quickly grabbed it. The other silver rank adventurer looked angrily at the one that grabbed the request, but saw the guild worker pin another silver rank quest to the board, so he quickly glanced over it before grabbing it. The fourth paper also listed a silver rank quest. The gold ranked adventure started to read the details on the paper, while the guild worker pinned the last paper to the wall. As soon as he saw that it was a gold ranked request, Mitsuo quickly skimmed over the details, then grabbed it before the other adventurer could see it. Walking to one of the tables Mitsuo read the request in detail.

WANTED: WYVERN WINGS

LOCAL BLACKSMITH TOLBO LADA IS LOOKING FOR THE WINGS OF TWO ADULT LESSER FOREST WYVERNS TO EXPERIMENT CREATING BETTER ARMOR. LESSER FOREST WYVERNS CAN BE FOUND IN FOREST AREAS AND HAVE AN AVERAGE DIFFICULTY RANKING OF 45. PARTIES WITH FOREST BASED CLASSES SUCH AS DRUIDS AND RANGERS ARE RECOMMENDED. THE WINGS OF THE SLAIN FOREST WYVERNS MUST BE RETURNED INTACT.

DIFFICULTY: GOLD

REWARD: 15 GOLD COINS AND PROMISES OF DISCOUNTS ON MERCHANDISE.

Mitsuo smiled as he read the request. With a little luck, this could work. He went to the receptionist to ask a few questions. Depending on the answers he got, he might take this quest.

XXX

Mitsuo walked back into the guildhall to see his teammates sitting around a table. He had just paid a visit to the blacksmith who put out the request, and was pleased with the results of his discussion.

As he walked over to the table, Barker called out to him.

"Hey, leader, over here!"

Mitsuo sat down with his team. All of them looked at him, but Anna spoke up first.

"Please don't tell me we're going on a patrol again."

Mitsuo smiled as he answered.

"No, your talented leader managed to get a job for us."

His teammates looked at him with a mixture of surprise and relief.

"Really, what's it for?"

Mitsuo answered Anna by showing them the paper. After reading it, Hetman was the first to speak up.

"Uh, this looks a little dangerous for us. Are you sure we should take it?"

"It should be fine, I'll handle most of it with my magic and you all proved strong enough to handle a troll."

Hetman nodded his head, but asked another question.

"That should be fine, but are you sure you want to take this quest? Didn't you say your sponsor would provide us with equipment? There's no point in getting a discount on equipment if that's the case."

"It should be fine; I've already talked to Mr. Lada and sorted a few things out with him."

"Heh, Mr. Lada? Tolbo Lada? Hey, wasn't he one of dad's employees?"

"Huh, Oh yeah! He was uncle Silas's favorite assistant. I heard uncle planned to put him in charge of the store. I'm glad he's doing OK. He was pretty good friends with uncle."

"Wait, uncle wasn't planning to give the store to you, brother?'

"Well, I was still only a junior apprentice."

"Ah, I see."

Mitsuo was surprised to see that his teammates new the requester. While he had read Hetman's memories earlier, he only skimmed through most of them so he didn't know many details.

"Do you know this guy well?"

"Ah, we worked together, but I haven't seen him in a while. He was my master when I was training to be a blacksmith, but I was an apprentice for only about a month. He would have gotten my uncle's shop if he didn't die."

"Is he a trustworthy person?"

"I guess. I didn't know him that long, but he seemed OK."

Mitsuo smiled at that.

"Alright, it should be fine then. I've talked to both the guild and the client. They guild said that we can hunt more than the two lesser forest wyverns while we're on this quest if we want extra materials, but they won't pay us extra. Mr. Lada said that he's only interested in the wings of the lesser forest wyverns and if we get a third one, he's willing to trade the extra parts of the wyverns for an extra pair of wings. So, we're going to try to hunt at least three lesser forest wyverns for this quest."

"Why do we need to do this, heh? It doesn't seem worth it."

"Well, Milia-chan, I've talked things over with our sponsor, and he wants us to make our own equipment. The bodies of the wyverns will provide materials for us and our sponsor will provide additional supplies. Mr. Lada agreed to let us use his workspace in exchange for a small fee. Hetman-san will build our equipment and I will enchant it."

"WHAT!"

Hetman exclaimed on reflex, drawing several people's attention.

"Hetman-san, don't make a scene."

"Ah, sorry leader, but seriously, I can't build equipment for us; I was only a blacksmith apprentice for a month."

It seemed Hetman was not aware of his new levels.

"Don't worry, I've talked it over with our sponsor. If I judge that you can't do it, we'll hire someone else to do so."

Naturally, Mitsuo knew Hetman would do fine, but he couldn't just tell him this.

"Now then, is there anything else?"

After all of his teammates answered that they didn't have anything else to discuss, Mitsuo told them to prepare for their journey. A little after midday, they left E-Rantel after renting a large open top cart and traveled toward the Great Forest of Tob. They didn't encounter any monsters, and camped in a field. Mitsuo leveled his team, but stayed awake the entire night to watch in case any enemies tried to ambush them. During the second day, before they embarked, Mitsuo cast an information gathering spell to locate his prey.

"Huh, that's strange."

"What is it, Mitsuo-san?"

Mitsuo didn't mean to say that out loud, but Anna heard him.

"Oh, it's nothing important, just talking to myself."

"Heh, that's a bad sign. Are you going to be OK?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine Lilia-chan."

"That's Milia, not Lilia!"

"Ah, sorry, I'm just a little distracted."

The others gave Mitsuo a strange look, but continued packing their things. Mitsuo was surprised to find only one animal lifeform in the nearby area of the forest. He wasn't sure what it was, but it definitely wasn't a wyvern. Mitsuo decided to leave the strange creature alone and expanded the scope of his spell, searching for wyverns. Eventually, he found several of them scattered around parts of the forest.

Mitsuo led his team to the locations of three adult lesser forest wyverns and easily killed all of them with a [Lightning] spell each, taking care not to damage the wings. It turned out to be quite anticlimactic.

Now carrying the corpses of three lesser forest wyverns, they traveled back to E-Rantel. Now that they were burdened with their prize, the team traveled much slower. They camped out another night, and arrived at E-Rantel the next day as the sun was setting. Mitsuo had leveled his teammates during both nights out and he planned to do so again tonight. The team dropped off the wyvern corpses with the guild before renting several rooms at an inn.

Over the course of two nights, Mistuo had given his teammates six levels each. That night, he gave them three more levels.

Barker got five levels in Mercenary, two levels in Master at Arms and two levels in Swordsman. Hetman got four levels in Metalworker and five levels in Jack-Of-All-Trades. Anna got four levels in Paladin and five levels in Master at Arms, and Milia got four levels in Potioneer, two levels in Armored Mage, two levels in Wizard, and one level in High Wizard.

Mitsuo considered giving Milia levels in master wizard instead of high wizard, but master wizard would only be more beneficial if she went over level 80. As she probably wouldn't get that high, the high wizard class was the clear choice. Sadly, master wizard, archmage, and high wizard were mutually exclusive classes, even in this new world.

The Jack-Of-All-Trades class was a class that gave a small bonus to every crafting attempt. With this class, even if one did not have levels in a crafting class, they could do any crafting action. However, even at its maximum level of 5, without the proper classes, the crafted item would be inferior to an item made with a player with even only three levels in the proper crafting class. Just like the other crutch classes, this was essentially a useless class back in YDDGRASIL. Mitsuo gave this class to Hetman because the class received bonuses from other crafting classes as long as those classes were under a certain level. With 5 levels in blacksmith, forger, metalworker, and Jack-Of-All-Trades, Hetman could craft as well as a player with 15 levels in blacksmith and 5 levels in advance smith and forge as well as a player with 15 levels in forger and 5 levels in advanced forger. Even better, all of these classes also improved Hetman's physical attributes.

From what Mitsuo understood, Hetman was now probably the best forger and blacksmith in the known parts of this new world. He shouldn't have any trouble with making their equipment.

XXX

"Well, I'm honestly surprised that you got back this quickly. I guess a deal's a deal. As promised, you can have the wyvern bodies and use my spare workshop."

"Thank you Mr. Lada. My comrade and I shall be using your equipment for a few days then."

Mitsuo and his team had delivered the wyvern corpses the previous night, but couldn't meet with their client until now.

Tolbo Lada looked at the man standing beside Mitsuo for a moment before exclaiming in surprise.

"Hetman! I didn't recognize you there for a minute. What happened? How did you become an adventurer?"

"Ah, it's a long story, master."

"I'm not your master anymore boy, and what a shame it is too. You had some talent as a blacksmith, but it seems that you've also become a strong adventurer. Gold plate, huh? That's quite impressive, especially at your age."

"Thanks, I guess."

"Don't act so shy boy, you've grown to be a fine young man. Silas would be proud."

Tolbo Lada shook Hetman's hand and walked out to gather the wyvern wings.

"He seems like a nice guy."

"Oh yeah? You haven't had to work under him. The man is a damn slave driver."

"Well, he wouldn't push you if he didn't think it was worth his time. Anyway, it's time to get to work, Hetman-san."

"Yeah, yeah"

Hetman and Mitsuo started working on making their new equipment. Earlier, Mitsuo gave the rest of the team a few days to relax and gave everyone a gold coin each, so they should be fine for now. Hetman was surprised to see Mitsuo produce a few mithril ingots from his bag, but eventually got over his shock and started making new equipment. Mitsuo provided several crafting tools from YDDGRASIL for Hetman to work with and generated magical fire to forge the metal. Hetman diligently worked on the equipment while Mitsuo enchanted the product every step of the way. He only used his basic enchantments, but Mitsuo's high level would ensure that it was powerful. Although Mitsuo had the option to use his data crystals to enhance the items, he chose not to.

About mid-afternoon, Tolbo Lada informed them that he was finished with the wyverns. He yelled through the door, so he didn't see Mitsuo and Hetman working. The two of them harvested the wyvern bodies, Mitsuo discreetly storing some of the meat and bones in his inventory, before turning the skin into leather. Again, Mitsuo enchanted the skin to resist damage.

Overall, Mitsuo and Hetman spent three days and two nights at the workshop making equipment. Mitsuo occasionally left for a while, claiming to pick up additional supplies from his sponsor. Hetman worked through the entire time, stopping only to eat, stretch, and use the restroom. He was unaware that Mitsuo was feeding him nourishment and stamina from the branch store link ring, probably thinking that he was just excited.

At the end of the third day, Hetman went to rent a room at an inn to get a good night's sleep, while Mitsuo delivered the items intended for his other teammates. They now had some very powerful equipment for adventurers. Barker had a longsword and kite shield (although one could argue it was closer to a heater shield), Hetman owned a pair of daggers and a short sword, Anna boasted a mace, short sword and buckler, and Milia wielded a short sword. All of these were made of mithril and enchanted to improve their performance. All of them had wyvern leather armor, mithril chainmail, and various other pieces of equipment. Again, all of these had been enchanted. Mitsuo considered enchanting the weapons with various elemental damage attacks, but decided against it. In the end, he only used enchantments that increased their base abilities. Mitsuo had asked Hetman to make a total of 6 sets of mithril chainmail, claiming they should have one extra in case they get an extra member later. Mitsuo kept this extra set and the one he received in his inventory, preferring to use his vastly superior gear from YDDGRASIL. Mitsuo also gave his team a few low and middle class rings and pendants that he claimed to have gotten from his sponsor. He also decided to give Milia a middle class staff that lengthened the duration of the buffs she cast and strengthened her spells.

It may have taken many mithril ingots to make these items, but Mitsuo considered it a worthwile investment. Besides, he still had almost a hundred mithril ingots left in his inventory.

XXX

Mitsuo decided against leveling his team for now. They were all level 30, which seemed to be extremely powerful for this world. With the new equipment they had made, he doubted they would have any problems in the near future.

The next morning, Mitsuo went to the adventurer's guildhall early in the morning and waited for the new jobs to be posted. There were five other adventurers waiting with him, a silver plate, three gold plates, and a platinum plate. As soon as the receptionist pinned the first request to the board, Mitsuo grabbed it without looking. He wanted a quest to get his team used to their new equipment and would take anything that wasn't outrageous. Walking away from the request board and toward the receptionist, Mitsuo glanced at the request he had grabbed, smiling as he read it.

XXX

 **That's it for this chapter, here are updated sheets.**

 **XXX**

 **Barker Craso**

 **Fighter Lv. 15**

 **Sword Saint Lv. 2**

 **Swordsman Lv. 4**

 **Master at Arms Lv. 4**

 **Mercenary Lv. 5**

 **Total Level: 30**

 **XXX**

 **Hetman Armond**

 **Rouge Lv. 10**

 **Blacksmith Lv. 5**

 **Forger Lv. 5**

 **Metalworker Lv. 5**

 **Jack-Of-All-Trades Lv. 5**

 **Total Level: 30**

 **XXX**

 **Anna Armond**

 **Cleric Lv. 10**

 **Guard Lv. 10**

 **Paladin Lv. 5**

 **Master at Arms Lv. 5**

 **Total Level: 30**

 **XXX**

 **Milia Ertman**

 **Mage Adept Lv. 10**

 **Alchemist Lv. 5**

 **Herbalist Lv. 5**

 **Potioneer Lv. 5**

 **Armored Mage Lv. 2**

 **Wizard Lv. 2**

 **High Wizard Lv. 1**

 **Total Level: 30**


	8. Chapter 8

**Review response in 3, 2, 1,**

 **Guest (2): You make some valid points. Allow me to make a few counterpoints.**

 **First, technically, according to canon, none of the people of the new world have exact levels. If you look at the character sheets, they are given classes, but their levels are always in question marks. I think Gazef is mentioned to be around level 29 combat wise, but to my knowledge, it is never verified.**

 **Second, I may not have made this clear in the story, but the characters are usually not aware they can use a specific spell or ability until they actually use it or as otherwise noted. Think of it this way, if you suddenly become an excellent swimmer, but never start swimming, you don't know that you can do it. This is actually why it is important for them to gain actual experience, not just points from the ring. Mitsuo's team can cast strong magic and use many skills, but don't know about most of it.**

 **Third, Mitsuo is not aware of the exact mechanics of what he's doing. He knows he's making his team stronger, but not exactly how strong they're getting in comparison to the people of the world. Right now, he's just feeling things out. This may or may not come back to bite him since he doesn't have any convenient way to reduce his team's level.**

 **Fourth, as mentioned earlier, there is a difference between having power and using it well. Right now, Mitsuo's team has high stats, but cannot use it effectively. For example, consider in canon when Ainz fought Clementine and when Ainz fought the martial lord Go Gin. In both cases, Ainz's stats were the same, as he didn't level up, but Ainz was more prepared and experienced during his fight with Go Gin. Clementine, although arguably weaker than Go Gin, was able to outmaneuver Ainz in the beginning of their fight and thus Ainz struggled until he was able to adapt, given that he was holding back his true power. During the fight against Go Gin, he gave himself similar restrictions, but managed to cripple Go Gin despite some miscalculations. Being able to do something and being able to do something well are two different things.**

 **Fifth, there is actually no exact level given in canon about when adventurers learn spells of a given tier. All that we know for certain is that YDDGRASIL players get super-tier spells at level 70. It would make sense that you get a new tier every seven levels, but we do not know that for sure. Similarly, we do not know the exact levels of the adventurer ranks. From what I can tell adamantite is 27+, orichalcum is 24-26, mithril is 21-23, platinum is 17-20, gold is 13-16, silver is 9-12, iron is 5-8, and copper is 4 and below. However, even these ranks are speculative on my part and it may be possible that a powerful adventure team is not at their proper rank because of various reasons, such as not having proven themselves yet. In volume 3, it states that an adventurer that can cast third tier spells is at minimum a platinum plate. However, by the new tier every seven levels theory, a level 15 adventurer could cast a third tier spell, which correlates to gold rank. Thus, this system is at best an estimate. To complicate matters, we don't know if taking non-caster levels will muddle things.**

 **Sixth, although level correlates with power, it is not exact. A level 50 character can theoretically beat a level 80 character if the level 50 character is properly designed and the level 80 is poorly designed. Also, one must take the situation into account. If you're fighting in an enclosed space and your opponent is right next to you, a ranged character would normally be at a disadvantage.**

 **Seventh, to my understanding, the 'realm of heroes' in canon is not where people are so strong that legends are told about them. Rather it is the point that they are so strong that they become widely known, even across social classes and country borders. I think it's mentioned that the leader of Silver Canary is a heroic bard and several people have been mentioned to be in the realm of heroes, such as Clementine and the paladin from the holy kingdom. Being in the realm of heroes is very rare, but not so rare that it happens only once in several generations. To get legends told about characters, they need to be at the level of the Thirteen Heroes in canon.**

 **Finally, and this is important, I can change things however I please in this story. If I wanted to, I could have Mitsuo level his team to level 50 and have no one notice. I won't, but I can.**

 **[exhales], wow, that was a long response.**

 **Guest (1): I'm actually taking a few things in this story from D &D (based on information I got off the internet). As I understand it, YDDGRASIL is loosely based around D&D with MMO elements in it. (Like how divine casters use 'Turn Undead' and several of the classes). It's not exact, but as I told Guest (2), I can change things however I please. In D&D, I understand that a sustenance ring can reduce the need for food and sleep but not eliminate it, and this is only after wearing it for a given amount of time. Thus, the greater sustenance ring can do more than that.**

 **In canon, it's mentioned in volume 2 that Nabe/Narberal has a ring that removes the need for her to eat or drink. However, this is not explained in detail. We don't know how rare the ring is, who can use it, or if its effects differ depending on things such as classes. I assume it is some kind of sustenance ring, but even that is a guess. It might be mentioned somewhere else, but I can't find it right now.**

 **Now, on with the story.**

XXX

Mitsuo glanced at the request he had grabbed, smiling as he read it.

PHARMACIST ESCORT

LOCAL PHARMICIST NFIREA BAREARE IS SEEKING AN ESCORT TO GATHER WILD HERBS IN THE GREAT FOREST OF TOB. PARTIES SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ENCOUNTERS WITH WILD MONSTERS OR BANDITS. PARTIES ACCEPTING THIS REQUEST MUST BE READY TO LEAVE BY MIDDAY TODAY. PARTIES WITH FOREST CLASSES SUCH AS RANGERS OR DRUIDS, INDIVIDUALS WITH KNOWLEDGE OF POTION INGREDIENTS AND HERBS OR PARTIES WITH SKILL AND EXPERIENCE IN ESCORT MISSIONS ARE DESIRED. ANYONE PLANNING TO TAKE THIS REQUEST SHOULD BE AWARE THAT A LEGENDARY BEAST THAT SHOULD BE AVOIDED LIVES IN THE GREAT FOREST OF TOB.

DIFFICULTY: SILVER (IRON PARTIES WITH SPECIFIC SKILLS MAY BE CONSIDERED)

REWARD: 2 GOLD, 10 SILVER

While it didn't seem to be a difficult request, it would do for Mitsuo's purposes.

Mitsuo smiled as he took the request to the receptionist.

XXX

The rest of the party arrived at the guildhall a short time later. Mitsuo brought them over to a table and showed them the request.

"Uh, Mitsuo-san, should we really take this request?"

Once again, Hetman was the first to question the request. Mitsuo expected this, so he wasn't annoyed.

"While it doesn't seem like a difficult request, it should allow us to get used to our new equipment. We can take higher ranked requests once we're ready."

"Heh, but we don't have any qualifications for this. It's completely out of our experience."

"Yeah, we've only fought monsters and haven't protected anyone, none of us have forest classes, and we don't know anything about herbs and potions."

Again, it seemed that they were unaware of their new classes. Mitsuo answered Milia and Anna's concerns.

"It should be fine, this is a silver quest and we're already gold ranked. The client can handle the herb gathering. Besides, we can kill any threat that approaches before our charge is in danger. After all, the best defense is a good offense, or at least that's what they say."

"Aha, that's it!"

Barker, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.

"I knew I heard the name Nfirea Bareare before. He's that genius alchemist with a talent!"

Mitsuo looked at Barker in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Ah, sorry leader. Nfirea Bareare is a famous talent holder in this city. He can use any magic item, regardless of restrictions."

Anna spoke up next.

"Ah, that's right. I heard of him too."

"So, he can use any magic item, huh. That's interesting, but does it have anything to do with this request?"

"Ah, no, leader, I was just wondering where I heard his name before."

"Eh, its fine. I just thought you had something related to this mission to bring up. Either way, sharing information is essential, so if you have anything else we need to know, tell us."

"Will do, boss."

Mitsuo made a mental note not to let Nfirea use any of the many items in his inventory.

With nothing else to say, the team prepared for their mission.

XXX

"Ah, sorry, I know I said to be ready to leave by noon, but something important came up, could we wait to leave for a while?"

Mitsuo stared at the person before him. The young man was completely underwhelming and seemed to radiate an air of inferiority. It was even difficult to make eye contact with him through his blonde hair.

"Uh, sure, you're the client, so if you have to wait a while, it should be fine. While we're ready to go now, it's not a problem for us to wait."

Mitsuo was talking to Nfirea Bareare, who he had met at the main gate of E-Rantel. Surprisingly, the boy asked to postpone their departure.

"Sorry, someone I know recently came to town unexpectedly last night and I need to make some preparations. I already put in the request by that time and I was too busy to change it."

"I understand. Then should we wait until tomorrow to leave?"

"No, I actually do need the herbs. I'll be done in about two hours, could we meet at the gate by then?"

"That should be fine."

"Thank you, mister"

Mitsuo watched as Nfirea walked away. Sighing, he turned around to go inform his team.

XXX

Three hours later, after everyone was finished preparing, the group set out on their mission. There were no monster encounters and they traveled until sunset and built a camp.

While Mistuo could use his spell [Create House], he was not foolish enough to show everyone there what he could do at this time.

While everyone prepared the camp, Mitsuo took this time to ask Nfirea a few questions.

"So, Nfirea-san, what's the plan for this trip?"

"Ah, yes, we left a lot later than expected, but it shouldn't affect us that much. We'll continue on this road and we should reach the forest by noon tomorrow. I originally planned to stay in Carne Village, but it seems that it has been destroyed."

Mitsuo felt a pang of guilt at that.

"I actually only heard about it today. That's the reason I was late. A friend of mine from Carne escaped its destruction and made it to E-Rantel. I had to make some preparations for them before I left."

Mitsuo vaguely remembered that the warriors saved a few villagers back then. Perhaps the friend he mentioned was one of those lucky few.

"Well, that's good for your friend. I'm sorry to hear about the village, though."

"Ah, don't worry, Mitsuo-san. It wasn't your fault."

Actually, it was partially his fault, but again, Mitsuo didn't say anything.

"Well, anyway, once we get to the forest, we'll spend the afternoon gathering herbs and camp out one more night before returning to E-Rantel. If everything goes OK, we should arrive just before sunset."

"That sounds fine to me. Anyway, I'd like to ask, is it true that you have a talent that lets you use any magic item."

"Yeah, I guess it's common knowledge now. I can use scrolls from different magic systems, items that can only be used by certain people, and even items that humans shouldn't be able to use. Of course, that doesn't mean I can use them well, but I can use them."

"I see, that's amazing."

"Heh, you two, dinner's almost ready. Come and get some"

Milia called over the two of them to the campfire, where Barker and Hetman were cooking. While neither of them had the chef class, Barker's mercenary class and Hetman's jack-of-all-trades class gave them some cooking skill. At that level, they could make something almost as good as a level 3 chef, which was apparently good for this world.

Mitsuo graciously accepted a bowl of stew from Hetman and ate with the others. While it wasn't nearly as good as the food in his inventory that was made by his old comrade Yamato, it wasn't bad.

After dinner, the group talked for a while before going to sleep. Mitsuo's team took turns standing watch throughout the night.

XXX

As Nfirea predicted, they arrived at the Great Forest of Tob around noon. They entered the forest and began gathering herbs. At Mitsuo's suggestion, the adventurers tried assisting Nfirea with his gathering. Milia and Hetman seemed to do well, probably thanks to their class levels, but the other three did poorly, often damaging the herbs they were trying to pick. After a few tries, everyone decided to let Nfirea, Milia, and Hetman gathered herbs while Mitsuo, Barker, and Anna stood guard.

Mitsuo felt a little disappointed that his party was doing better than he was at this task, but he consoled himself with the fact that it was probably because they had the proper class levels and he didn't. Fortunately, he was able to contribute a little, as his supreme insight let him know where to find the herbs, even if he couldn't harvest them well.

"Wow, Milia-chan, you're really good at this! You're almost as good as I am, and I had to practice gathering herbs for years!"

"Thanks for the complement, Nfirea-san, heh."

"Yeah, Milia-chan. You're much better and faster than I am at this."

Hetman praised his cousin. Hearing this, Anna made a sour face and spoke to Barker.

"Do you get the feeling that we're just deadweight here?"

"It's fine; don't let it get to you, Anna."

"Yeah, Anna-chan, we're doing our part by standing guard."

"Yeah, easy for you to say, Mistuo, you've managed to find a lot of herbs. Besides, if no one attacks, what use are we?"

"Hey, guys, I think somethings coming toward us."

Hetman interrupted their concertation. Since he had levels in the rouge class, his observations should be accurate.

"What is it, Hetman?"

"I don't know, but it's huge."

"Could it be the Wise King of the Forest?"

Nfirea spoke with worry in his voice. Deciding to be careful, Mitsuo cast an information gathering spell to see what was coming. He sensed only one animal lifeform in range, and it was approaching rapidly. Mitsuo couldn't tell how strong it was, but he was confident that his team would be able to handle it. Nfirea, on the other hand, might be killed in the crossfire, so Mitsuo decided to have him withdraw.

"Everyone, something is headed towards us. I don't know what it is, but we should be careful. Anna, Milia, you two take Nfirea and get him out of this forest for now. The rest of us will hold off the creature and either kill it or withdraw."

Mitsuo chose Anna and Milia to accompany Nfirea because he needed Hetman and a frontliner here. Hetman needed to stay here because Mistuo thought it would be strange if an adventurer team sent someone with detection skills away in this situation. Therefore, it made sense to send Anna, who could cast healing magic, with Nfirea in case he got injured. That left Barker to act as Mitsuo's front liner. Mitsuo sent Milia with Nfirea and Anna in case they ran into trouble, however unlikely that would be. Besides, he could cast magic much better than Milia.

"Are you sure, Mistuo-san? This might be the legendary Wise King of the Forest."

Mitsuo smiled at Nfirea. He was almost sure that whatever this creature was, he could handle it.

"It will be fine. Don't worry about us. Even if we can't win, I'm confident we can escape."

Nfirea seemed conflicted for a moment, before he nodded his head.

"Alright, then I'll leave it to you. Good luck, Mitsuo-san, Hetman-san, Barker-san."

"Let's get going, heh. We don't want you to die, kid."

Milia, Anna, and Nfirea withdrew, quickly heading toward the plains. The remaining three adventurers turned to face the newcomer.

They waited for several seconds that seemed to stretch out into minutes. Suddenly, something rushed out of the shadows. Barker blocked it with his enchanted mithril shield.

All of them saw a long, serpentine tail slowly withdraw back into the shadow.

Mitsuo was somewhat surprised and intrigued at this. While there were monsters in YDDGRASIL that attacked with a tail, none could do so as gracefully as he just saw. His supreme insight told him that this was a creature that he had never encountered before, one that did not exist in YDDGRASIL.

This frightened and exited Mistuo at the same time.

"How spectacular, to think thou could block this one's attack. Very impressive. This one is impressed by thou skills. Then, oh trespasser upon mine demesne, should thou decide to withdraw, this one shall not pursue thee, in honor of thy magnificent defense, what say thee?"

Mistuo frowned as he heard this. It was a little difficult to understand the newcomer. Unsure of what to do, Mistuo spoke in an uncertain tone.

"Uh, you're a little hard to understand. Could you show yourself and speak to us directly so we can hear you better? Or do you not wish to be seen or something?"

"How impudent of thou, to insult this one. Now, behold this one's mighty form! Stare with eyes wide and tongue tied, and tremble in dread and awe as thou gazes upon the king!"

Mitsuo honestly didn't intend to insult the creature, but apparently, it took offense at his statement.

The Wise King of the Forest slowly emerged from the shadows. Seeing its form, Mitsuo stared in disbelief.

'What the hell! Is that a giant hamster?'

"Wow, what a magnificent beast!"

"Amazing, to think Barker-san managed to block a strike from such a mighty creature."

Mitsuo's jaw dropped as he heard his comrades awed voices. Suddenly, his supreme insight kicked in and told him this was a magnificent appearance for this world.

'IT'S NOT MAGNIFICENT; IT'S A GODDAMN GIANT HAMSTER!'

Mistuo felt a headache forming as he looked at the giant hamster. He couldn't see this ending well. Barker took this opportunity to speak.

"What do we do, boss, I don't know if we can beat this beast."

"... yeah, I'm not doing this."

Mitsuo pointed a finger at the hamster and cast a spell.

[Greater Scare]

A moment later, the hamster rolled over with surprising speed.

"Craven! This one yields to thee!"

Barker and Hetman looked at the monster in shock. They turned to Mitsuo and Hetman asked him, surprise on his face.

"Mitsuo-san, what did you do? How did you defeat it so easily?"

"Ah, I figured that since its physical abilities were so strong, it would be comparatively weak to magic. I just used a spell to intimidate it."

Mitsuo lied through his teeth with this one.

'I swear, if these two speak to anyone about this, I might have to hurt them badly.'

"This king surrenders! This king begs for its life!"

Feeling another headache coming, Mitsuo turned toward the Wise King of the Forest and offered it an ultimatum.

XXX

In the end, the hamster agreed to Mitsuo's terms. Mistuo told it to obey him without question and not attack humans unless it was attacked. The hamster offered to follow Mitsuo forever, but Mitsuo, not wanting to be seen in public with a giant hamster, refused, convincing it to stay in the forest and rule over its territory so that Mistuo could gather herbs and other supplies here as he needed. Milia, Anna, and Nfirea were all surprised at this outcome, but eventually accepted it. With the hamster's help, the group was able to collect many herbs throughout the Wise King of the Forest's territory. Nfirea was pleased with this outcome and promised to give the team a bonus when he got back to E-Rantel.

The group camped out for another night, this time, under the protection of the hamster. Mistuo discretely stayed awake the entire night, in case the hamster tried to get revenge, but it seemed to be obedient. The next day, all of them, minus the hamster, began their journey back to E-Rantel. They encountered two groups of goblins on their way back, both of which were easily defeated, before they arrived at the gates of E-Rantel. After showing the guards their gold plates, they were let in and all of them stopped by the adventurer guildhall to acknowledge the completion of their quest. Nfirea told Mitsuo and his team to stop by his house for the bonus and some drinks before leaving with the herbs, while Mitsuo and his team went to submit proof of the defeated goblins. They received the quest reward of 2 gold and 10 silver, plus 6 silver and 10 copper for the 13 goblins they defeated.

As Mistuo was finishing up, an old granny approached the receptionist next to them.

"Excuse me, do you know if the adventures accompanying my grandson, Nfirea Bareare have returned with him?"

Hearing this, Mistuo spoke up.

"Ah, that would be us, who might you be?"

"Hello, I am Nfirea's grandmother, Lizzie. Ah, you're gold plates! I thought my grandson was hiring silver plates to accompany him."

"Well, the request was a silver one, but we decided to take it."

"Ah, I see, I just came by to meet Nfirea since he said he'd be back today. I wanted to tell him his friends decided to stay at an inn because of the smell at our place. I guess we just missed each other."

"Well, since you're here, could you show us back to your house? Nfirea invited us to visit since we did well on the request."

Lizzie smiled at this statement.

"Oho, then did he get a lot of rare herbs. I'll look forward to that then. Very well, I will guide you back to my shop. Where is your team?"

"They're over there, sitting at that table. I'll get them and meet you out front."

Mitsuo gathered his team and left the adventurer's guildhall with Lizzie, unaware of what awaited him that night.

XXX

 **Well, anyone who's read the novel knows what's coming next. Anyway, no character sheet this time, the levels are all the same.**


End file.
